


Brother

by mk10



Category: Big Bang (Band)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-02 05:09:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 28,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10937661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mk10/pseuds/mk10
Summary: The members of BigBang are taken and forced to see how far they will go to protect one another.





	1. Taeyang

A dark, bare room with one old, metal door and one barred window up high and out of reach. The moonlight shone through casting its glow on them. Each shaking figure with one ankle chained to the floor. They had been in this room for what seemed like an age. No contact since they first woke up in the cold, dark space.  
   
None of them were harmed, but one of them was absent.   
   
"Did anybody see anything? A familiar building or sign?"   
   
Seunghyun filled the room with his deep and booming voice. They shook their heads.   
   
"Nothing, hyung. My head was covered."   
   
Daesung replied as he thought back to the moment that they were all taken away.   
   
Taeyang was standing and pacing slowly as much as the chain would allow.   
   
"What do you think they want with us?"   
   
The youngest member asked from his kneeling position beside Daesung.   
   
"I don't know."  
   
Taeyang answered quietly, arms tensely folded.   
   
"Money maybe?"   
   
Daesung suggested.   
   
"Then why risk taking all of us?"   
   
Seunghyun leaned back against the wall.   
   
There was a silence as they all tried to figure it out. The silence extended as the notable absence of their leader came to the forefront.  
   
"Ji-hyung's been gone a long time."   
   
The youngest was worried.   
   
Taeyang heard the anxious tone in his little brother's voice and kneeled down before putting a hand on his shoulder.   
   
"Don't worry. He'll be fine. It's Ji."   
   
He smiled reassuringly which made Seungri smile slightly too.   
   
At that moment the door suddenly swung open and their leader was pushed into the room before the metal was shut behind him loudly.   
   
"Jiyong-hyung!"   
   
Seungri exclaimed in relief as he stood and stepped forward as much as the chain stretched.   
   
Jiyong approached his members and went straight to his youngest brother. He was the most emotional usually so he went to him first. The rapper's hands were tied behind his back so he simply leaned into Seungri who in turn wrapped his arms around him.   
   
"I'm okay."   
   
Once they broke the embrace Taeyang turned Jiyong so that he faced him and began to inspect him. It was simply to see if he actually was okay and not lying to spare the maknae any worry.   
   
He was unharmed.   
   
"Are you sure?"   
   
He was just being careful.   
   
Jiyong simply nodded before lowering down to sit on the floor. The rest of the group followed suit so that they all sat on the cold ground close to eachother.   
   
"So, what do they want?"   
   
Daesung asked.   
   
Their leader cleared his throat. It took him a while to say anything. The oldest member noticed his apprehension.   
   
"What happened, Jiyong?"   
   
Seunghyun didn't take his eyes off of the smaller rapper.   
   
"I was told that we have two options."   
   
"Two options? Told by who?"   
   
Seungri enquired in a hurry.   
   
"The people who took us. The man who seems to be in charge."   
   
"Did you recognise him?"   
   
Seunghyun asked.   
   
Jiyong shook his head.   
   
Daesung spoke up.   
   
"So, what are the options?"   
   
The leader looked down for a moment before answering.   
   
"Do what he says or 'face the consequences.'"   
   
Taeyang exchanged a look with Seunghyun.   
   
"What consequences?"   
   
"He didn't say. He just..."   
   
"What, hyung?"   
   
Seungri could see his leader was still thinking as he was speaking.   
   
"He said if we do what he says it will only affect me. If we don't, the consequences will be for everyone."   
   
"That's..."   
   
Daesung began, but trailed off.   
   
"Why would he want to do this?"   
   
Seungri asked out loud, but nobody had an answer.   
   
"Ji, you can't expect us to listen to this guy."   
   
"I'm not, Youngbae. I'm asking you to listen to me."   
   
Seunghyun watched his leader speak and knew where he was going.   
   
"Do what he says."   
   
"Seriously hyung-"   
   
"What if you get hurt?"   
   
"Look, whatever happens, just please do what he says."   
   
The leader sat with his legs crossed, hands tied behind his back. The rest of his members were as close to him as they could be.   
   
"But hyung, he said you'll be-"   
   
Seungri started, but his leader interrupted again.   
   
"I know. He said I'll be the only one, but you're all my responsibility. I'm not letting any of you get hurt. So no matter what happens, just do it. Okay?"   
   
Seunghyun could only look at the smaller rapper.   
   
"Jiyong..."   
   
"It's alright, hyung."   
   
Just then, the door swung open and the tall, looming figure entered. He stopped and looked down at the group. He surveyed them all before focusing on the smallest man in front.   
   
"G-Dragon. Kwon Jiyong. Leader of BigBang."   
   
He didn't respond, only looked up.   
   
"Are you going to do as I say?"   
   
He really wanted to be cheeky and say no, but the leader in him took responsibility.   
   
He nodded wordlessly.   
   
"Good. Now get up and walk to the centre of the room."   
   
"Hyung?"   
   
Daesung enquired instinctively before Jiyong began to raise his body awkwardly due to him not having the use of his arms.   
   
He slowly did as he was asked and stopped in the middle of the dark room.   
   
"Lie down on the ground."   
   
He began to get uneasy as he lowered down and lied back against the cold concrete and took in a long breath, looking up at the ceiling.   
   
"Good."   
   
Nothing was said for a few moments. Seunghyun watched his little brother's stomach rise and fall from his shallow breaths.  
   
"Taeyang."   
   
The figure suddenly said, startling the names' owner. He flinched and looked up at him.   
   
"Stand up."   
   
The singer did so hesitantly. Another figure entered and unlocked the chain around his leg before leaving again.   
   
"Walk to Jiyong."   
   
Taeyang did not like where this was going, but he did as he was told. Not by the figure, but by his leader. That's what he kept telling himself.  
   
He stopped and stood over Jiyong. He looked down at the smaller man who looked back up at him, equally as confused.   
   
"Mount him."   
   
Everybody suddenly snapped to look at the figure, even Jiyong.   
   
"W-what?" Taeyang panicked.   
   
"Sit on top of him."

The figure slowly replied.  
   
Taeyang looked back at his fellow members who just stared back at him not really knowing how to react. He then looked back down at his leader who admittedly looked a little worried at this point.   
   
"Now."   
   
The figure warned, prompting Taeyang to step his left leg over Jiyong so that he was directly over him. He lowered himself down awkwardly so that he was sitting on the rappers waist.   
   
"Good."   
   
The singer looked down and watched as Jiyong was lying uncomfortably on his wrists still tied behind his back. His own weight adding to the pressure.  
   
"Hit him."   
   
Again, everybody instantly shifted their gaze to the figure.   
   
"Wait a minute-"   
   
This time it was Seungri who spoke up.   
   
Taeyang stuttered as he really began to panic.   
   
"I-I can't."   
   
"Hit him or face the consequences."   
   
It was just vague enough to scare them all. Taeyang wordlessly tried to argue before a voice came from below him.   
   
"Youngbae."   
   
He looked back down at his leader. Jiyong spoke quietly.   
   
"No matter what happens."   
   
Taeyang gulped at the understanding in his leader's tone, but also because it looked like he was bracing himself.   
   
"Do it!"   
   
The figure shouted, startling the singer and causing him to instinctively yell and swing his fist down, smashing it into his leader's face. Jiyong's head snapped to the side as he let out a surprised cry even though he expected the impact. He rested his cheek on the cold ground. His jaw throbbed as his vision became fuzzy for a moment.   
   
Seungri, Daesung and Seunghyun all flinched at the cracking sound that the impact made.   
   
Taeyang felt his chest tighten as he looked down at the man he had just hit. He felt his stomach drop when he heard the figure speak.   
   
"Again."   
   
"But I-"   
   
"Again!"   
   
Just as Jiyong managed to face back up towards his friend he could only watch as his fist came crashing down again and cracking into the side of his skull, causing his head to snap back to the cement.   
   
"Again."   
   
At this stage Taeyang was shouting as if in some sort of trance. He began wailing punches down on his leader below him. Each sickening blow causing Jiyong's vision to blur more and more. The relentless strikes made Seungri grab Seunghyun's arm out of a need to feel some sort of comfort in contrast to what he was seeing front of him.   
   
With one hand tangled in Jiyong's tank top he drove the other one down one last time landing just under his leader's left eye. This final blow sent his head snapping to hit the ground and that's where it stayed as the rapper stilled.   
   
Taeyang was panting now with tears in his eyes.   
   
"Good."   
   
The figure said before turning and exiting the room.  
   
This caused the singer to slowly snap out of whatever daze he had been in and properly look down at what he had done, at the man he had just beaten unconscious.   
   
"Ji?" 


	2. Seungri

There was blood. A lot of blood. A red stream dripped down from his eyebrow and another from his temple. His nose poured from where the singer's knuckle had made contact and crimson was spilling from his busted lip. 

It was frightening looking in comparison to the only other time Taeyang had seen blood anywhere near his best friend and that was when he was twelve and cut his knee when he fell. 

He reached down and took Jiyong's face in his hands, his delicate features masked in red, and turned him to face up at himself. His heart sank as he felt the tears rise up again.

How could he have done this to his best friend? Just because some shadow told him to? He felt so heavy. Like he had betrayed Jiyong. He knew deep down that he was doing what his leader told him, but as a result he had hurt him.

All of this rushed through his mind as he stared down through blurred eyes at the smaller man he was still on top of. 

He watched as the rapper's brow slowly furrowed and his eyes shut tighter, an exhale followed by his eyes peaking open. 

Taeyang could feel the head in his hands shift.

"Ji? Hey, Ji. Focus on me."

Jiyong did as he was told and put all of his energy into sharpening the image that his heavy eyes were giving him.

"Youngbae."

"Yeah, it's me. I'm so sorry. He kept yelling at me to hit you and I-"

"Hey." Jiyong began.

"Don't apologise. Just... help me up."

It took a second for Taeyang to realise that he was still on top of the small leader.

"Oh, man. Yeah of course. I'm an idiot."

Jiyong gave a small laugh as he was dismounted and helped to sit up. Now that he was vertical again he could see the rest of his group.

They got a proper look at him too.

"Hyung. Your face."

Seungri exclaimed as he saw the blood drip down his big brother's face now that he was upright.

Seunghyun silently took in the damage done to his little brother and cursed inwardly.

Daesung could feel anger boil up inside of him. Not at Taeyang, but at the figure giving him the 'choice.'

Jiyong managed to stand awkwardly despite his hands being tied and the dizzy feeling in his head. He joined his members on the far side of the room on the floor. Taeyang followed.

A figure entered the room now almost on cue to chain Taeyang back to the ground. He swiftly left once the singer was secure.

The leader could sense the feelings of anxiety and worry in his fellow members as they examined his face.

As he sat uncomfortably on display he licked his lips. Blood dripped down onto the ground between his legs. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking back up at his brothers.

"Youngbae is not to feel burdened. This wasn't his fault. If anything, it's mine."

"Ji-" Taeyang tried to interject, but Jiyong continued.

"Bae, you did only what I asked. I made the decision for you."

The singer looked down at the ground. The rapper continued.

"I have a feeling that you would have refused had I not made you promise beforehand. Am I right?"

Taeyang returned eye contact to his leader.

"You know I would never hit you."

"I know." 

Jiyong smiled at him before turning to the others.

"So I'm telling you all now."

He made sure to make eye contact with all of his brothers, blood still dripping down his face. 

"Nothing that is going to happen is your fault. No matter how difficult it will be to believe and no matter how bad it gets... it's not your fault. Understand?"

There was a silence. Seungri was conflicted. If this man came back in and told him to strike his brother and he did, how is it not his fault?

But he did understand that his leader was doing everything that he could in his seemingly powerless position right now to keep his members safe.

"Yes, hyung. I understand."

"Thank you, Seungri."

Jiyong smiled.

He turned to Daesung who looked frustrated.

"Look, Ji-hyung. I understand that you're protecting us, but is it really worth you taking all of the burden upon yourself?"

"Yes. You are all my responsibility. That's what a leader does, but more than that, that's what a brother does."

Daesung took a second to let the pride he felt for Jiyong in that moment seep in before he nodded and gently patted his leader's shoulder.

Jiyong slowly turned to his oldest brother and looked at him through his swollen eyes. 

Seunghyun narrowed his eyes. For a moment Jiyong thought he was going to scold him, but as soon as it came it went as his brother's eyes softened.

Seunghyun reached up and with his thumb wiped the blood from his leader's bottom lip. He kept his hand on his cheek then, looked into Jiyong's eyes and smiled.

"Fighting."

\--

The members had been left for hours. Seemingly to give them time to rest.

Jiyong's face had stopped bleeding at this stage, but the bruises had gotten more angry and his wounds more painful. 

He sat with his back against the wall as he wasn't chained to the floor like the others. His arms were still tied behind him and beginning to really hurt him. The rapper had his eyes closed and head leaned back against he wall. He wasn't asleep, just taking the weight off his throbbing head. 

Seungri had managed to doze off on Taeyang's lap. He was the only one however as Taeyang stared at his knuckles which were stained with Jiyong's blood and felt like he'd never be able to sleep again. Daesung and Seunghyun were getting restless. The oldest member stood up to stretch out his legs.

The door opened all of a sudden and the figure walked through. He stood for a moment and just observed the group. After a few seconds of silence the leader turned his head to look up at the man.

"What?"

Jiyong was getting impatient and frustrated.

"Come here."

The rapper let out a quiet sigh and slid himself up the wall using it to support himself. He slowly walked over to the man and stopped to face him. He looked him dead in the eye. The man brought up a hand to graze Jiyong's bloodied cheekbone gently.

"My, my. Look at you."

The leader recoiled his head away from the man's touch.

"Turn around."

As Jiyong went to do so he was grabbed by the arm.

"If you try anything-"

"I know." 

Jiyong interrupted angrily.

He turned so that his back was to the man. He felt his hands being untied behind him, surprisingly gentle he thought.

As he was being untied another man brought a wooden chair in and placed it in the centre of the room. 

His hands were finally able to swing around. He took this opportunity to stretch them out. He saw that there were red marks around his wrists where the ropes had dug into his skin. 

He glanced up and looked at Seunghyun who looked back with a knowing expression.

"Sit."

The man said and gestured toward the chair.

Jiyong apprehensively did as instructed. The chair wasn't too far from the other members. Seunghyun stayed standing, carefully observing what was happening. Two more figures entered the room to secure Jiyong to the chair. They tied his shins to the legs and his already damaged wrists to the arms. As the two figures left, the man approached Jiyong from behind, resting his hands on the back of the chair and leaning down over his shoulder. He bent so that he was just beside the rapper's head.

"This is going to be particularly difficult for you. Please prepare yourself."

Taeyang saw his leader's expression darken at the inaudible words spoken to him. He felt himself strain at the sight of Jiyong tensing. The sudden shift in movement caused the younger man in his lap to wake and sit up. 

At the sight of Jiyong tied to the chair and Taeyang's silence he began to question the situation, but he didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Ah, Seungri. Nice of you to join us. And just in time too. Your turn."

The man spoke from behind Jiyong, hands on his shoulders.

Another figure approached and unlocked his chain before disappearing again.

Seungri looked at his hyungs beside him.

"It's okay. We're all here."

Seunghyun reassured the youngest member, prompting him to shakily stand up.

"Don't be shy. Come on over here."

Seungri hesitated, but eventually made his way over to his bound leader. Once he was close to him, the figure smiled.

"Good. Now..."

He reached behind his back and held an item over Jiyong's shoulder.

"Take this."

Jiyong looked up at it and slowly closed his eyes, understanding what the man had said earlier.

It was a mallet.

Seungri instantly backed away.

"No, no, no. No way!"

He had backed up so much that Daesung stood and took hold of his shoulders from behind.

"I can't. You're sick. Why would you-"

"My dear Seungri. You haven't even heard me out yet."

The youngest member was panting now, glancing between the hammer and the man holding it.

"You don't have to take it, Seungri, but I will make you a promise."

Jiyong could feel the grip on the shoulder that was still being held tighten. He lowered his head.

"I am going to take Jiyong away from you. For however long I decide. And by the time I bring him back you're going to wish you took this mallet from my hand."

The room fell dead silent. Seungri felt a gentle squeeze on his shoulder. Daesung leaned forward.

"Please, Seungri. We can't risk it. You can do it."

He turned his head into his brother's.

"Hyung, I-"

"You can do it."

Daesung repeated as he now looked at his leader. 

Seungri followed his gaze to look at Jiyong, who was looking back at him, silently telling him to do what he was being asked to do. His eyes looked sad though. 

Seungri let out a breath before approaching the man again and eventually reaching to take the weapon from him.

"Good."

The figure seemed satisfied. He released the rapper's shoulder and took a step back away from them.

"Seungri, use the mallet to break his hand."

The youngest member felt all of the air leave his lungs.

Daesung, who was still standing, felt himself instantly fall to his knees in bewilderment. It was easy to tell his younger brother he could do it before he knew what 'it' was. Now was a whole different story.

Taeyang almost felt as if he was lucky that he only had to hit Jiyong with his own hands. What a terrible thought to be able to have. 

Seunghyun put his hands on his hips looking up to the ceiling and closing his eyes before rubbing his hand over his face.

No matter how long Jiyong was given he could never prepare himself for this.

"Do it, Seungri."

The figure spoke sternly now.

The maknae held the mallet shakily in both hands as he looked down at his leader as if to ask for permission. He was hoping to see his hyung's stoic expression and hear his reassuring words that everything was going to be okay, but all Jiyong could do was sit with his eyes closed. He was scared.

"Seungri."

The man repeated his warning.

Eventually, once he was prepared Jiyong opened his eyes and nodded.

"Forgive me, hyung."

That was all Seungri needed before he suddenly swung the metal down with all his strength and smashed it into his brother's hand.

The sound was sickening. 

Jiyong screamed at the immense excruciating pain from his bones breaking underneath the metal. 

Daesung had covered his eyes as soon as he saw Seungri begin to swing. Taeyang just sat in silence as he watched everything unfold. Seunghyun had his hand over his mouth at the agonising scream of his little brother.

They all watched Jiyong lean forward. His good hand clutched the arm of the chair tightly and his pained cry echoed in the small room. 

Seungri instantly lifted the hammer away from his brother's now broken hand and threw it to the ground. He immediately took his leader's head in his arms and held him to his chest. 

"I'm so sorry, Ji-hyung. I'm so sorry."

He repeated this over and over while his leader whined, sending vibrations into Seungri's chest. 

"Shhh. Shhh. Shhh. Hyung, just breathe through the pain."

Seungri's voice quivered as he felt tears rising in his own eyes, but he needed to be the strong one right now in this moment. 

His leader's hair was soft and damp against his own cheek. 

"It's okay. You're okay."

His soothing words began to calm the rapper down slightly as his breathing started to slow down and even out.

But as soon as Seungri had felt like he was doing some good he was ripped from his injured brother and dragged away. He was placed back at his members side and chained back to the floor. He did his best to stay next to Jiyong, but it was two against one.

"Well done, Seungri."

"Fuck you!"

The youngest member cursed up at the figure.

"I'll be back soon."

The figure took one last satisfied look at Jiyong then turned and left.

As soon as the door slammed shut Seungri shouted in anger, frustration and just plain despair. He stood up and turned behind him to the wall and unloaded on it, punching and kicking. 

Seunghyun felt like leaving him to taking out his frustration. Hell, he felt like doing the same, but he didn't want the noise to cause an early return of a certain someone. 

"Hey, Seungri. Come on."

The oldest member took hold of the youngest member and let him crumble in his arms. They both ended up on the floor with Seungri openly crying into Seungheun's shoulder. The rapper held on tight and let him do exactly what he needed to.

Taeyang watched his leader breathing heavily in the chair. He was doing his best to breathe through the pain, writhing against his ropes, doing anything to distract himself from the horrible feeling. His head was hung low and his broken hand shook and stuck out, fingers twisted at an odd angle. The singer saw drops falling down from the rapper's head onto his lap and wondered if they were sweat or tears. Probably both. 

He wanted so desperately to comfort Jiyong the way Seunghyun was able to comfort Seungri. He reached forward as much as his chained leg would allow, but he couldn't even reach his brother with his fingers outstretched.

If he couldn't comfort him physically he had to use his words.

"Ji. Can you hear me?"

Jiyong was conscious, but was more than likely overwhelmed from the pain. Still he did hear Taeyang. It just took slightly longer for him to form a coherent response. 

"Is S-Seungri... okay?"

Taeyang felt his heart warm at his leader's selflessness in this moment. He glanced back behind him to see Seungri buried in his hyung's embrace still. Seunghyun nodded at the singer who turned back to the injured and bound rapper.

"Yeah, Ji. He's just angry. We all are."

He turned to check on Daesung, who looked back and nodded as he frowned indicating that he wasn't really okay, but he was dealing with the situation the best he could. Taeyang understood his expression and turned back to his leader.

"Ji, what about you?"

It was a stupid question. Of course he wasn't okay.

Jiyong slowly raised his head and hung it back behind him. He was smiling. 

"N-Never better."

Seunghyun smirked at his little brother's response.

This was G-Dragon. The man who let nothing get to him. The man who was cheeky and cocky and didn't back down from anything or anyone.

"Adda boy."

He said to himself as he watched his brother with pride.

His leader continued.

"P-Please forgive me, but I-I'm going to pass out f-from the pain now..."

With that, his smile faded and his head lulled forward as he lost consciousness.

Taeyang felt relief for only if it meant that his brother had some rest from the pain.

Seunghyun knew at that moment that G-Dragon wouldn't be back for a while and that Jiyong was going to need his brothers when he woke up.


	3. Daesung

He was dreaming that he was on stage in front of thousands of people. He was beside his four brothers having the best time of their lives. He hadn't been so happy in ages. 

And then it was gone.

He was pulled from his dream by freezing cold water. The shock of the ice jolted his muscles, involuntarily moving his hands. The broken limb spasmed and he momentarily forgot where he was and what condition he was in until he felt the familiar sensation of pain. He never wanted to hear the words 'familiar' and 'pain' in the same sentence.

He looked up to see Daesung holding the empty bucket. He was obviously told to wake him up using the ice water that now drenched his battered body.

"Rise and shine, Jiyong."

The voice came from behind him again.

The leader coughed as the freezing water dripped down from his hair onto his chest.

The figure behind him continued.

"Daesung, you know what to do."

The bound rapper was confused as he turned back up to look at the younger singer.

The bucket was gone from his hands and was replaced with the same mallet that Seungri had used earlier. Blood still stained the metal. The singer was slightly shaking and a tear fell from his eye.

"I'm just going to do it, hyung. It'll be easier if I just get it over with."

Jiyong eyed the hammer, furrowing his brow.

"Wha-"

But before he could continue, Daesung shouted and drove the metal down. It landed straight on his leader's knee.

White. Hot. Pain.

It was like no other feeling he had ever experienced. It was so much worse than his hand. More intense.

Jiyong couldn't even make a sound at first as the shock was out of this world. He had literally woken up seconds before and had no idea what was happening.

Daesung immediately let go of the metal as if it were piping hot and dropped down to cradle the knee that he hadn't targeted. He held tight as he let the tears flow.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, hyung. I should have warned you. I'm so sorry."

Jiyong bent forward as much as the ropes around his wrist would allow and leaned his head into Daesung's shoulder blade.

Then he screamed. 

Daesung hooked his hand behind Jiyong's delicate neck, over his wings and held him close to him.

The fabric of the singer's shirt muffled the rapper's screaming, but Daesung could sure feel it. He could feel the dampness from the mixture of sweat and ice water and blood. He could feel the heat radiating from his leader's body as the pain seeped deeper causing him to writhe. It was the only thing he could do.

Taeyang's heart disintegrated. This was truly inhumane. 

Seungri was the angriest he had ever been, but also the saddest. He clutched his older brother's hand as tight as he could.

Seunghyun felt the younger man's grip, but didn't mind. He could see his leader shifting in the chair and in Daesung's embrace. That was no position for him to be made stay in especially in his condition.

"For god's sake, untie him!"

The man momentarily looked taken aback and somewhat sympathetic as he thought. He then approached the leader and pushed Daesung aside. 

"Move!"

He took out a knife from his coat and swiftly cut the ropes tightly binding Jiyong's arms and legs. It took him a few seconds to get the blade underneath, now understanding how tight the small rapper had been tied.

Once Jiyong was free the figure stood and quickly left the room.

Nobody moved for a second.

Daesung turned to look at Seunghyun in disbelief. Did the man untie Jiyong just because they asked him? 

Seunghyun suddenly raised his eyebrows and pointed ahead.

"Daesung!"

The singer whipped around to see Jiyong leaning forward. 

"Hyung!"

Daesung leapt towards his brother who was falling from the chair he had been freed from. Just before he hit the ground Daesung managed to slide underneath him and catch him in his arms.

The rapper groaned as he landed on the singer. 

"I've got you, Ji-hyung."

His leader was dead weight. He hadn't the energy to move. Daesung could now feel the entirety of just how shaky and heavy Jiyong's breaths were.

He sat up slowly and took the smaller man carefully in his arms making sure not to touch his damaged knee or hand. He brought him over to the other members and let go. He wanted to let him decide how he wanted to situate himself.

To his surprise, Jiyong stayed upright. Seunghyun could see that he swayed slightly, having difficulty staying in his desired position so he ever so gently took him by his upper arms and pulled him towards him. The taller rapper pushed himself back so that he sat against the wall and let the smaller rapper sit in between his legs and lean back against him.

Like Daesung, he instantly felt the heat seeping through his leader's body and felt himself being soaked with sweat and blood. The small man's frame shook as he shivered which worried Seunghyun.

He felt the weight of his leader's head on his own shoulder. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't asleep. He just couldn't keep them open. He was making pained noises, seemingly delirious.

Seunghyun felt so sorry for Jiyong. He reached his arms around the rapper's body and hugged him tight.

Taeyang slid over and faced his brother. He looked down at his hands and saw one of his fists clenched tight, knuckles white. His good hand. He took him gently by the wrists and held them in front of him, inspecting how raw they were and eventually focusing on his mangled hand. It was bleeding and bruised and trembling almost on it's own. After he had taken in the image of the injury he lightly placed his little brother's delicate hands on his lap.

He looked down at his legs to see his crushed kneecap. He couldn't see much of the wound, but blood had seeped up through his black jeans and even through the denim he could make out that it had become misshapen. 

Taeyang trailed his now clouded eyes up and surveyed just how bad of a shape his little brother was in until he reached his face. 

The bruises had darkened and the blood shone on his skin. His brow was furrowed like he was having a nightmare despite him being conscious. This was the nightmare. For all of them. 

He felt tears rise up in his own eyes and he raised his hand to his forehead, dropping back to sit and pinching the bridge of his nose. The tears then fell down his face as he cried openly.

After a minute he felt warm hands around his shoulders. Seungri took his older brother in his arms and held him close. Taeyang continued to cry quietly.

The emotion from the embrace caused Daesung to move himself beside Seunghyun and Jiyong and rest his head on his oldest brother's shoulder. The same shoulder his leader was lying back against. 

Nobody really moved for a little while. It seemed that the intensity of those last few moments had gotten to the man enough that he let them have some time to each other. And for Jiyong to just not be hurt. 

The leader weakly lifted his head from Seunghyun's shoulder and pushed himself forward, still leaning heavily on his older brother. He turned to Daesung who noticed this and sat up straight himself.

Without saying anything, Jiyong slowly reached his arms around the singer and hugged him as tight as he could, which in his state wasn't very tight.

He could obviously tell that Daesung was having a hard time and he was unable to do anything before being tied down, but he wanted to reassure him that he wasn't blaming the singer for what he had just done.

Daesung, who was momentarily taken aback, immediately returned the embrace. He squeezed his eyes shut as he clutched his leader close. 

It was just what he needed and wanted. 

Seunghyun smiled warmly at the sight and gently placed his palm on the back of his injured brother's head and rubbed his thumb through his black, damp hair. 

"Ji, you're doing so well."

He comforted the small rapper. Jiyong slowly took Daesung's shoulder and straightened himself so he now sat up by himself. He still sat in Seynghyun's lap, but now he was facing his brothers.

He let out a sigh.

"E-Everything hurts..."

Seunghyun began to soothingly rub his leader's back through his soaked tank top.

"B-But since you are all... w-with me... I-I know I w-will be fine."

Seungri knelt forward on his knees and rested his hand on Jiyong's forearm.

"Hyung, when this is all over we're going to take care of you. We'll look after you, okay?"

Jiyong turned to him and smiled.

"It's not over yet."

A voice came from the doorway. Nobody had heard the man enter the room. 

"Forget about me?"

"How can you live with yourself?"

Taeyang asked with disgust in his tone.

"Just fine, thank you very much."

The figure entered the room and approached the group, stopping as he neared them. He bent forward and took his gloved hands out of his pockets, holding them up and waved his fingers.

"I haven't lifted a finger. Jiyong is in the condition he is now because of you four. Not me."

Two more men entered the room and approached them. One chaining Daesung back to the floor and one unlocked Seunghyun before both of them left.

"Keep telling yourself that if that's what you want to hear, but you did this. Not us."

Taeyang informed him, making the man frown in frustration before standing back up straight and grasping his hands behind his back.

"Jiyong and Seunghyun. Up now."

The oldest member felt his younger brother tense in his lap. The smaller man turned to him and went to say something, but no words formed.

Instead Seunghyun nodded slightly.

"Come on."

He shifted his own weight so that he could help lift Jiyong to stand with him.

His leader's knee was a problem now. He practically had to carry him to the centre of the room. The man watched this take place. The pained winces at every step. It was satisfying to him.

The two rappers stopped a few metres away from the figure. Nobody said anything for a moment.

"Jiyong, over here."

The leader let out a sigh of frustration before Seunghyun began to help him over.

"Just Jiyong."

"His knee-"

Seunghyun began.

"Is not my problem."

The man interrupted and turned his gaze to the smaller rapper. His eyes darkened.

"Over here. Now."

Jiyong noted how much more agitated the man looked. Had they gotten to him?

His older brother let go of him cautiously to make sure he could actually stand by himself. He could. Barely.

He did his best to make his way over to the far side of the room. He limped and felt a jolt of pain from his knee at every step. He eventually reached the man.

"Face the wall."

It took two more painful steps for the rapper to finally reach his destination.

Then he felt himself being pushed roughly face first into the cold concrete.

"Hey!"

Daesung exclaimed.

The man ignored the protest. He held his large hand in the centre of Jiyong's back and leaned into him, speaking so only he could hear.

"You know, at the start it was you who really pushed my buttons."

He accentuated his sentence by grabbing the wrist of his injured hand and pulling it behind his back, causing him to grimace.

"But now it's your so-called brothers who are really beginning to get on my nerves."

He took Jiyong's other hand and pulled it back before tying his wrists back in their familiar position. It felt pointless to be even doing it at this stage. He was just doing it to be cruel.

He flipped the small man around to face him and pushed him back against the wall again.

"So, what will I have him do to you, huh?"

His eyes surveyed the leader's battered body which made him extremely uncomfortable. 

Seunghyun and the other members couldn't really make out what he was doing because the man's larger frame almost covered their leader entirely.

The looming figure's gaze eventually fixed upon the rapper's abdomen and he smiled, looking back up at the shaking and puzzled man in front of him.

"I know exactly what I want."


	4. T.O.P

The oldest member looked across at Jiyong now that he could see him properly again and get a good look. He looked shaken and scared, but the saddest part was that he looked defeated.

"Now, Seunghyun. I want you to hit Jiyong as hard as you can in the stomach."

Jiyong looked down at those words. Understanding now what the man was looking at moments previous. 

Seunghyun stood across from him. Almost unable to look at his best friend. His small frame was battered and bruised. His damp black hair fell down over his dark eyes, one of which was swollen almost completely shut. The smaller man kept his focus down to the ground, unable to meet the others' gaze. He could tell that he was having trouble standing as he could see his slight body shaking. His shoulders were strained no doubt due to his arms being pulled tight and secured behind his back.

Kwon Jiyong. G-Dragon. Their leader could only stand and wait for what was about to happen. He had no choice. 

As Seunghyun stood opposite him he thought harder than he ever had before. The other three members sat on the cold ground and watched in silence at the agonising situation in front of them.

He really didn't want to do this. More than anything in the world he wanted to take his small leader in his arms and leave this nightmare with his band. But if he didn't do this, the consequences would be so much worse and Jiyong would never forgive him.

So without a moments more hesitation he made his decision.

Suddenly he lunged forward, closed his eyes and drove his fist into Jiyong's stomach. Hard. 

The harsh impact caused the smaller rapper to instantly double over. Seunghyun kept his hand against his friends abdomen and with his other carefully reached up and placed his palm at the back of his leaders neck, over the wings tattooed on his smooth skin.

As Jiyong bent forward after having the air knocked out of him, Seunghyun gently pulled his face against his own neck and lowered both their bodies down so they were kneeling, however painful it was with Jiyong's mangled knee.

The smaller man's lungs desperately craved air, resulting in him gasping and coughing into his friend's shoulder.

"Breathe, Ji. I need you to breathe. Please."

He could feel tears forming in his eyes. Jiyong had already endured so much for the other members and now he was holding him as he made him endure more.

On the ground a few feet away, Seungri, Taeyang and Daesung were tearing up as well. Seeing their leader in pain that they themselves had inflicted was the hardest thing they ever had to do. 

Jiyong groaned as he found his breath, but also the pain that came with it. He could feel his friend's large hand still pressed against his stomach. Although it was a viscous and punishing fist before, it was now a soothing palm. The grip on the back of his neck tightened slightly as his own tears fell onto Seunghyun's shoulder. 

He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around the other rapper, but the razor sharp rope around his wrists prevented his desire. All he could do was breathe shakily into his neck.

"I'm so sorry, Ji. Please forgive me."

Seunghyun did his best to sooth his young friend as he began to gently rock him back and forth.

It took a few more weak breaths for his leader to feel like he could make his voice work again. 

"H-hyung-"

"Good."

The voice came from the doorway. 

"Seunghyun, move back."

Two figures entered and waited.

The oldest member reluctantly let go of his leader and returned to his other members. He was chained back to the floor next to them and the two figures left. 

The man approached Jiyong and kneeled down in front of him. He lowered his head to look up at the rapper's face.

His eyes were closed as he was still concentrating on his breaths. 

Then he opened them slowly and stared at the man. The figure saw the hatred emitting from Jiyong's gaze. He was momentarily startled. 

"Jiyong, you know, you continue to impress me."

"I-I don't... c-care what y-you thin- think of... me..."

The man's smile faltered.

"N-Now get... the f-fuck out o-of m-my face..."

The figure's expression suddenly became dark.

"And I was going to untie you."

He suddenly stood and grabbed Jiyong by the back of his belt and the scruff of his neck. He dragged him carelessly across the room and aggressively tossed him down on top of his brothers. Then he left.

Jiyong was caught by Taeyang and Daesung awkwardly. The rapper let out a sharp cry as damaged head hit against Taeyang's chest.

"We've got you, Ji."

The rapper ended up with his legs draped over Daesung's own and his head in Taeyang's lap. 

He let out a shaky breath and looked up at the singer.

"I-I... can't t-take... much m-more Y-Youngbae..."

The whole groups' hearts shattered in that moment. It was a feeling none of them would forget. 

Jiyong really wanted to hold his still throbbing abdomen, but his tightly tied wrists prevented any movement and stretched out his chest making it difficult for him to regain the rhythm of his breathing.

So instead he turned his face into Taeyang's lap and cried.

All of his physical strength and the strength of being a leader to his brothers was crumbling with every tear.

Taeyang couldn't help but well up also. He didn't want to risk untying his brother in case he was hurt more because he freed him. Instead, he hugged his leader's head and bent down to cry as close to him as he could be.

"It's okay, Ji."

Taeyang spoke between hitched breaths.

"It's okay to show weakness."

Jiyong continued to cry in his lap. 

The sight of their leader finally breaking down caused the other members to shed tears also.

Jiyong wasn't crying solely from the pain. Sure, he was exhausted both physically and mentally and in agony, but it was purely the fact that his brothers were the ones made to suffer. 

Physical pain will heal. But he couldn't imagine having to hurt one of his best friends. It was putting himself in their shoes that made him feel almost glad to be the one who had been subjected to the physical abuse.

But what the leader couldn't see in his now overwhelmed thoughts was that he was the one who had to experience his own brothers hurting him, causing him physical pain even though he knew that deep down that they never would.

He really wasn't thinking about himself at all. He was the leader after all and that was important to him.

Taeyang grew up with him. He knew how he was and he needed him to care about himself at this moment. 

"Please, Ji. You've been taking care of us this whole time."

The singer raised his head up and wiped his eyes so he could see clearly.

Jiyong felt the weight lift from his shoulder and turned slowly to face up at his brother.

Taeyang reached down and gently brushed his thumb under his leader's dark eyes, wiping the tears away leaving tears and blood on his own hand.

"Let us take care of you now."

Jiyong blinked up at him, not protesting at the touch.

Taeyang took this as permission so he ran his fingers through his brother's damp hair. He kept the movement going, doing his best to sooth his leader.

Jiyong kept his eyes fixed on his friend. The sight of him alone was enough to warm his heart.

It was funny. Despite the circumstances and how completely taken apart the leader felt, he still also felt safe at the same time. As long as he was with his brothers he felt safe.

"Had enough, huh?"

Taeyang tried to lighten the mood.

It worked as Jiyong smiled slightly.

Seunghyun kneeled beside the smaller singer.

"Hmm, I don't know, Bae. I think he could go another day or two..."

Daesung put his hand on the oldest's shoulder.

"Could push it to a week maybe?"

The singer joined in now looking quizzically at his brothers who both nodded in feigned agreement.

Seungri scooted over now to be included.

"You know guys, I think we should just keep him!"

They laughed at the youngest member's added comment. They laughed as if it was the most foreign thing for them to do. How long had it been?

The actual subject matter of what they were laughing at made it's way back to them. Jiyong's quiet laughter turned into violent coughing as he turned into Taeyang's lap again out of the need to shield the rest of the members from his fit. The singer kept a caring hand over the wings on his leader's neck and let him cough. They each threw a worrying glance at each other. 

Jiyong eventually quietened and turned himself back to face up.

"S-Sorry."

Taeyang was just about to scold him for apologising for coughing when he spotted spatters of crimson on his own shirt. His gaze then became fixed on Jiyong's face. Blood was coming from the rapper's mouth and dripped down his chin.

"H-How m-much longer... d-do you thin-k we'll... be h-here?"

Without a word Seunghyun took the hem of the small rapper's soaked tank top and lifted it.

"Shit, Jiyong."

The oldest member frowned at the angry, viscous bruising that covered his little brother's stomach. 

"Internal bleeding."

Daesung confirmed as Seungri wiped his leader's mouth with his sleeve.

Taeyang looked back up at Seunghyun.

"We need to get out of here."


	5. Knock Out

They did anything to get the man's attention. They yelled, they shook their chains, they banged the wall, they would have thrown their shoes at the door if they hadn't been taken from them. 

Eventually the man slowly opened the door and sauntered in. He stopped just a step inside the room.

"Yes?"

He looked down smiling at the group. Seungri kneeling tensely beside Daesung who gritted his teeth. Taeyang standing with his hands on his hips sweating from trying to gain the man's attention. Seunghyun sitting with a half-conscious Jiyong lying up against him, being kept upright so that he didn't choke.

"He's coughing up blood. He's had enough."

Seungri stated.

The man shifted his eyes to inspect the damaged leader. He saw the blood shining on the smaller man's lips. His heavy eyes tired and dark. He did look terrible and he did feel a little sorry, but not nearly enough.

He slowly stepped forward, just out of Taeyang's reach.

"Okay. Bring him here."

Seunghyun wasn't too fond of moving the broken man, but if it meant that they could leave he would risk it.

"Ji, we're going to move okay?"

The smaller rapper weakly nodded and moved slowly with his older brother to shakily stand.

Seunghyun walked him over beside Taeyang and stopped. The man held out a hand.

"Jiyong, come here."

The leader darkly stared up at the looming figure before gently nodding at his two brothers beside him, indicating for them to let go.

He weakly stumbled forward almost automatically until he reached the man.

The large figure reached out and grabbed Jiyong's shoulder, spinning him around and holding him back against his chest.

The leader's strength left him as his head fell back on the man's shoulder and he closed his eyes from exhaustion. The man brought up a hand and rested his palm on the leader's bloody cheek.

"Come on. He needs a hospital."

Taeyang pleaded.

The man smiled.

"It's Jiyong's decision. I need to hear it from him."

With that, his fingers curled down to cover the leader's mouth.

"What are you doing?"

Seunghyun asked.

"If he says stop, it stops."

The man answered through a smile.

"Oh, come on you psychopath! This is torture!"

Daesung shouted at the man holding his leader.

The tall figure turned his face to the smaller man in his arms.

"What do you say, Jiyong? Do you want the 'torture' to stop?"

He asked him. He felt a damp breath against his palm. The leader's head shifted and lulled forward, eyes still closed. 

He groaned, muffled by the man's large hand over his mouth. A trickle of blood seeped through the long fingers. 

"You're sick! You can't expect him to be able to- You're not even giving him a chance!"

Taeyang was furious and threw his arms in the air. Seunghyun silently seethed.

"Come on. Do you really think that he would say yes when he knows that you will be hurt in his place?"

"We won't know if you won't let him even try."

Seunghyun spoke up in frustration.

The man was silent then. He looked down at the man in his arms, head hung and blood staining his own hand. He had gotten a little bit heavier now.

He slowly uncurled his long fingers from Jiyong's face. Extra blood dripped down from his mouth and the large hand.

"Jiyong? What do you say?"

The rapper was literally only standing now because he was being held. His head was heavy and his eyes felt like weights on his face.

He could only make a low groaning sound, clinging to consciousness.

"Huh? What was that?"

The man mocked, lowering his head to see Jiyong's bloody face. 

"He can't even say anything. Does that not answer your question for you!?"

Daesung urgently exclaimed with worry in his voice.

The man ignored Daesung, still staring up at the leader.

"Come on, Jiyong. What do you say? Had enough?"

The rapper was trying so hard to speak coherently through the blood and just from sheer exhaustion.

"I... I-"

In that instant the man let go of him and Jiyong crumpled to the floor, landing hard. He let out a pained noise as soon as the impact of the ground caused the air to be knocked out of him. 

The figure turned back up to the fallen leader's brothers.

"I guess he wants more. Back shortly."

Then he exited the room, leaving Jiyong broken and semi-conscious on the cold, hard ground just out of reach of his brothers.

"Argh!"

Seungri shouted in anger. He was getting sick and tired of being messed around.

"Ji! Ji, come on!"

Taeyang kneeled and reached as far as he could for his brother, but it was no use. 

He didn't know if he couldn't hear him or he just didn't have the strength to respond or both.

Jiyong landed face down on the ground when he was dropped and that's how he remained. It took the weight off of his hands at least.

Seunghyun was glad also because if he landed on his back and couldn't move then he'd no doubt choke on his blood.

Taeyang wasn't giving up getting his brother's attention especially when he knew the man was going to come back.

"Ji, can you hear me? Please."

The beaten rapper shifted and made a groaning noise, but still didn't say anything.

"I need you to listen, Ji. When that man comes back he's going to ask us to hurt you again."

The leader was quiet. Only his ragged, laboured breaths broke the silence. Was he still conscious?

"We can't do that, Ji."

Taeyang said as he placed his hands on his knees defeated.

"We can never forgive ourselves for what we've already done to you, hyung."

Daesung added.

"Ji-hyung, please let us take the pain for you."

Now it was Seungri who spoke up.

The oldest member still stood and stared down at his broken little brother. 

"Come on, Jiyong."

Seunghyun said more to himself then anyone else.

The members could only hope that their leader had heard what they each had said.

The door opened with a loud bang and the familiar figure paced into the room. 

"Hi, boys. Ready for round two?"

He paced towards Jiyong and grabbed him from under his arms, hauling him up so that he was now kneeling shakily. He figured the smaller man was past being able to get up on his own now. The leader made a pained noise at the sudden movement.

Jiyong's broken knee cap was trembling and agonizing him. He gritted his teeth and silently shed a tear as he was made put pressure on the shattered bone.

"Stay."

The man ordered like the leader was a dog before turning to the rest of the group with a gleeful smile.

"So, who wants another turn, huh?"

It seemed that the man was getting more and more joy out of this madness and as a result was becoming more crazed.

Taeyang stood.

"Ah, Taeyang. Getting tired of waiting I see. Perfect."

A figure entered the room and unchained the singer. 

Taeyang stepped forward and stopped inches from Jiyong who was bent almost completely forward on his knees, his head almost touching the hard ground and his hands still tied behind his back.

"I'll let you decide this time. What are you going to do?"

The man said and smiled at the singer.

Taeyang knelt down slowly and gently took Jiyong's face in his hands, raising him to meet his gaze. 

"What I'm told."

He hoped that he was heard. He really did.

His brother wearily opened his eyes. The older man could see a glint in those dark orbs.

He could feel his leader take in a breath and blink slowly. When he opened his eyes again and refocused on his brother the decision was made.

"... D-Don't hurt... m-me..."

Taeyang beamed.

"What?"

The tall figure spat.

"Again, Ji! Say it again."

The singer was ecstatic as he lovingly held his brother's face.

"I-I... don't...w-want you... t-to hurt m-me... anymore..."

"There! He said it. He doesn't want to be hurt anymore!"

Seungri yelled and pointed.

Daesung punched the air and Seunghyun welled up with a warm feeling.

The figure panicked and swooped down, pushing Taeyang back and grabbing Jiyong's shoulders.

"Do you understand what you're saying, Jiyong?"

"Y-Yes."

"Even though you know your brothers will get hurt?"

It took longer for the leader to answer, but he did.

"...Y-Yes."

Blood spilled from his mouth.

"Then why?!"

The man was practically shaking him.

"... B-Beca- Because they... a-asked me..."

"Because they..."

The figure began to repeat as if in disbelief.

Taeyang looked back at Seunghyun who smiled warmly back at him. 

"So let me get this straight. You would have let yourself continue to be tortured, possibly even killed to prevent your brothers from being hurt... And it was only that they asked you themselves that you finally agreed to stop?"

Jiyong only replied with a look through dark and tired eyes.

The figure let out a breath and kneeled back to sit on his own legs, letting go of the leader, who himself managed to stay upright, barely.

"Wow."

Was all the figure could say.

There was silence for a few moments before the tall man swiftly stood up and turned to the members.

"Bring it on. We're ready."

Seungri boasted.

The man took one final look down at Jiyong. 

"You are free to go."


	6. Window

"I said you are all free to go."

There was a silence for a moment. 

"I don't-"

Taeyang began to try to reason in his head, but he couldn't figure it out.

"Why? Why now all of a sudden, huh?"

He was getting angry as he stood up.

"Why not before you forced us to beat our brother senseless?!"

The rage that the singer had been feeling through this whole situation was coming to the boil now. His breathing became ragged and eyes clouded with unshed tears as he clenched his raw and bloody fists tight. 

The tall figure only looked back down when he felt a weight against his leg.

Jiyong had become too weak to remain upright by himself and he was now leaning his shoulder against the fabric of the tall man's shin, head hanging low.

Taeyang, despite being unchained, didn't try to approach his brother while he was so close to the unstable man, who was still just staring down at the rapper.

"Because my experiment is over."

He finally answered. 

"Experiment?"

Seunghyun asked, voice booming.

"Yes."

The man now kneeled down beside Jiyong and placed a hand gently in the leader's damp, black hair.

He still didn't take his eyes away from his battered face.

"This might surprise you, but I'm a big fan."

Daesung and Seungri looked at each other in disbelief.

"Oh yeah. I listen to your music. I watch you on television. I've been to eight of your concerts."

As he spoke he gently petted Jiyong's throbbing head which was still leaning against his own knee. At this stage he figured that the rapper didn't really know or even care who was helping him stay upright.

"There was one thing I always wondered."

Taeyang watched as the figure was treating his little brother as if he was some hurt child he was trying to sooth after he fell off his bicycle.

"Are you guys really as close as you appear to be? Are you really brothers?"

He stopped the movement of his hand.

"Just how far will you go for each other?"

With that, he gently reached down and caught a drop of blood that had dripped from the leader's mouth. He raised his hand and rubbed the red liquid between his thumb and finger.

"Pretty damn far."

It was at this moment that Taeyang decided that the man was sick and that he needed Jiyong away from him.

The singer bent down right in front of his injured brother. He brought his face close and spoke gently.

"Ji. Can you open your eyes for me?"

His leader slowly did as he was asked. He recognized the voice. The orbs were still peeking through, but they were not as bright as before. It took him a few moments to focus on the face in front of him, but when he did he instantly leaned his head forward.

"Y-Y...b..."

He couldn't even get out his older brother's name. His expression was strange as Taeyang watched his leader strain to look up at who he was leaning against. As soon as his fuzzy head was able to make out who it was he instantly made a quiet groaning sound before reaching out to Taeyang.

The singer figured that Jiyong must have thought that the man was him and that's why he allowed him so close. And that broke his heart.

He took Jiyong into his arms and let him lean into him. The rapper's head hung forward over Taeyang's shoulder who in turn reached his arms around his brother's body to begin to untie his broken hands. As he did this he kept his gaze fixed on the man who still kneeled in place.

"You didn't need to do all of this. What you see up on the stage, on television, right here in front of you, is real. We are real. We are people who feel. Just like you."

He eventually managed to untie his brother's wrists, albeit a little roughly as the rope had begun to embed itself in his skin.

Jiyong's arms swung forward freely. Taeyang threw the rope on the ground before taking the back of the rapper's head with one hand and resting his other forearm on his lower back. He gently leaned him back and shifted him so that his leader was sitting on his lap, head leaning into his neck and hands resting in his own lap.

"Jiyong is our leader, but more importantly he is our brother. He would do anything to protect us and we would do anything to protect him. Same goes for all of us."

The singer looked over at his other brothers and smiled. Seunghyun was really proud of Taeyang in this very moment. Seungri and Daesung smiled back at him.

Taeyang turned back to the man, but at the same time took his little brother's uninjured hand in his.

"That's why it got this far."

The man reflected on what Taeyang had said as he stood up.

"Now I believe you. But I will say that the threat of violence is a powerful thing."

There was a silence as realization set in.

"You were never going to hurt us were you?"

Seunghyun folded his arms.

The man let out a quiet chuckle.

"No. The consequences never existed."

"So if Jiyong had just refused-"

Daesung began before being interrupted.

"Nobody would have gotten hurt."

The man informed them.

"That doesn't matter though."

Seungri stood now, making himself heard.

"Even the threat of hurting any of us was enough for Ji-hyung. Goes to show what kind of a leader he is. What kind of a brother he is."

The youngest member spoke proudly as he watched his big brother breathe into Taeyang's neck.

"I understand that now."

The figure said before making his way to the door and signaling to a man outside.

"Which is why I have a bittersweet feeling in my chest. Part of me is happy and relieved at the outcome, but I also feel sorry that it did get to this point."

The man outside returned and handed something to him.

"This is for you."

He approached Seunghyun as Taeyang had his hands full. He handed the tall rapper a disc.

"Footage of everything that has happened."

He pointed up to a tiny camera in the corner.

"For the police."

The oldest member held the small disc and closed his fingers around it. Now this whole experience would always be able to be relived and that's the last thing he wanted. At the same time though, this was evidence.

At that moment some men walked in and released all the members from their chains.

"I won't leave this place."

The man stated and leaned against the wall.

"When the police come I'll go quietly."

The members all moved forward towards the door, past their captors. Nobody said anything as they neared the exit. 

Taeyang held Jiyong close as he lifted him up to carry him. One arm under his knees and the other just along his shoulders. He didn't immediately follow his brothers, instead he turned to the man.

"This isn't over just because we're leaving."

He looked down at his hurt brother in his arms, as did the man. A small pained groan came from the leader as another trickle of blood dripped from his mouth.

"Every time you feel good or like your life isn't as bad as it seems being locked away prison, I want this image to be burned in your mind and I want you to remember everything you did to us."

The leader shifted slightly in his grasp.

"Jiyong is never going to be the same."

He finally returned his gaze up to the man.

"As a fan, I hope you can live with that."

With that, the singer turned and followed his brothers to leave. 

The man was left with his men in the cold, dark room.

"Leave please."

They did as instructed. The figure was now alone with just the memory of what had happened. No sounds of shallow, ragged breaths or pained screaming. 

Just silence.

He walked to the centre of the room and kneeled down. He rested his hand on the ground. Over the blood that had spilled and dried into the floor. 

"This is G-Dragon's blood."

He said out loud as if he was in disbelief. 

He fell back to lie on the floor and stared up at the ceiling as he let his mind wander.

He thought back to every time he had seen the group live and how much fun it had been for him and everyone there. A few times he was even close enough to make out their faces. He remembered when he would see T.O.P or Seungri or G-Dragon smile and laugh at each other up there. Now those smiles would never be one hundred percent genuine anymore.

Now there would always be darkness behind those smiles


	7. Heartbreaker

They didn't realise how large the place that they were being kept actually was. Straight outside the door that the members had been kept was a long and winding corridor. It was dark. No natural light shone through. Seunghyun was ahead of his younger brothers, doing his best to lead them to freedom. The darkness mixed with the lack of familiarity hindered the process of doing so. 

“This place is endless!”

Seungri exclaimed as he began to pant from jogging behind Daesung.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find a way out soon.”

His older brother reassured.

Seunghyun remained silent as he was concentrating up ahead.

Daesung half turned back behind him as he continued to run.

“How’s Ji-hyung?”

Taeyang held his leader in his arms as gently as he could, but he needed to keep up the pace also as there was a time issue involved here. The blood was still spilling from his little brother’s lips.

“He’s resting.”

Taeyang was doing his best to be positive. He knew that Jiyong wasn’t unconscious by choice.

Eventually they reached a large door. Seunghyun immediately reached for the handle and pushed the metal hard. As soon he did so the steel swung forward and moonlight shone through. He stepped ahead and looked up at the sky.

“Finally.”

The oldest member said aloud and turned back to his brothers.

“This is it.”

The rest of the members exited the building also. Daesung instantly bent down to lean his hands on his knees.

“Ah! At last we’re outside.”

He panted.

The youngest brother stood with his hands on his hips and looked up at the moon.

He took in a long breath of the now fresh air.

“I thought we’d never find the exit.”

Seunghyun watched as Taeyang still held the unconscious rapper close. The oldest member approached them both and without a word placed his palm on Jiyong’s damp forehead.

He was hot.

Seunghyun gave Taeyang a concerned look and at the same time wiped his injured brother’s bloody mouth with his sleeve.

“This isn’t good.”

He remarked to which Taeyang returned the worried glance. Now that the full strength of the moonlight was cast over Jiyong’s body, he could really see how bad his little brother was.

“No, it isn’t.”

“Hey, guys. Where the hell are we?”

Seungri spoke up. 

Both Taeyang and Seunghyun turned to the younger members.

As they both went to answer they realised that they hadn’t really properly looked at their surroundings. When they eventually shifted their gaze to inspect where they were both of their hearts sank.

There was nothing. All that surrounded them was dust and the moonlight.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Seunghyun interjected. 

“Yeah, hyung. There’s nothing.”

Deasung threw up his arms in defeat.

“What we- When did- How did they even get us here?”

The oldest member was getting frustrated. 

Taeyang glanced back towards the building they had just escaped from.

“Maybe if we go back and ask-“

“You really want to go back in to that mad man after everything-“

Seungri interrupted.

“What other choice do we have?”

Taeyang rose his voice.

There was a silence.

“Look, he might tell us where we are. And if he truly is sorry he might even be able to arrange some sort of transport. You never know.”

Daesung eventually nodded in response.

“Okay. I agree.”

“Seungri?”

“Do it.”

The youngest brother smiled.

Seunghyun turned back to Taeyang. 

“I’m coming with you. We don’t know what will happen once we go back in there.”

Taeyang nodded before approaching the two younger members.

“Take care of Ji until we get back.”

He gently passed the weight of their leader over to Seungri who wrapped his arms around his delicate frame.

“Keep him cool and upright.”

Seunghyun instructed.

Seungri nodded determined.

Taeyang stretched out his arms after being relieved of the weight.

“We’ll try to find our shoes and maybe even if they kept our phones. We’ll be as fast as we can.”

“Got it. We’ll take care of Ji-hyung.”

Daesung called as his two older brothers disappeared back into the dark building.

\--

Both Taeyang and Seunghyun were sprinting back to the direction of where they originally came from. Back into the darkness. Back towards the room that they would do anything to forget about. It was eerily quiet now. No muffled voices, no footsteps. Only their own ragged breaths as they kept up the blinding pace. 

They reached the long and winding corridor which eventually led them back down to that familiar space. Eventually they stopped at the metal door which was now closed. Standing outside the frame they both looked at each other.

“Ready?”

Seunghyun asked to which Taeyang nodded.

The older member turned the handle and pulled open the door, stepping through, back into the past.

As soon as he set foot in their former prison Seunghyun’s hand reached up to his mouth.

“Oh, fuck.”

Once Taeyang saw what he was referring to he felt a rush of shock from his head to his toes.

The man was lying dead in the middle of the floor. Blood was underneath his head and a gun was sitting not far from his left hand.

Both men slowly got closer to the body. The younger bent down to get a closer look.

“He killed himself.”

Seunghyun didn’t say anything. He just stared down at the cold body below them. Taeyang stood back up and looked around the room.

“Where are his men?”

Seunghyun’s brows furrowed as he let out a deep, sad breath.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

\--

Daesung sat back against the wall of the building with his unconscious older brother in his arms. Seungri sat on the ground facing them both.

“Do you think he’ll be afraid of us?”

The younger member asked.

Daesung frowned a little.

“No.”

Seungri felt a little reassured.

“But it’s going to take time for him, for all of us, to fully recover.”

His little brother nodded and took in the sight of his injured leader.

“It must have been horrible for him.”

Daesung remained silent, watching the emotion on Seungri’s face. He let him continue.

“I could never imagine you, or Youngbae-hyung or Seunghyun-hyung or-“

He cut himself off as he felt his eyes begin to well up at the thought. He blinked and a tear fell down from his eye. He turned his gaze towards the older singer.

“I broke his hand, Dae.”

His older brother reached forward and took his smaller hand in his own.

“And I broke his kneecap. But it was the right thing to do, Seungri. Do you know why?”

Seungri blinked back at him and sniffed.

“Because it was his way of keeping you, me, Youngbae-hyung and Seunghyun-hyung safe.”

His little brother smiled gently back and wiped at his nose with his sleeve.

“And for the sleepless nights that are bound to come I’ll be right there, okay” 

Daesung smiled at Seungri who in turn let his own smile widen.

“And I’ll be there for you, hyung.”

Just then, Daesung felt movement from the fragile body in his arms.

“Ji-hyung!”

\--

The sight of the dead man couldn’t be shaken from either member’s minds as they made their way through the building.

They weren’t running at this time. It felt like a weight had been balanced on their heads.

They had been trying every door that they had passed along their way. They had just found empty rooms with turned over chairs or bare tables. This was obviously just an abandoned building that the man had deemed suitable to use.

“So this really was all for nothing.”

Taeyang said into the silence.

“He’s gone now. That’s it. What was the whole point?”

Seunghyun kept walking ahead as he replied.

“Don’t think like that, Youngbae. We have the footage. Maybe the police can find his men. Right now we need to focus.”

Taeyang took a second before he let his mind clear.

“You’re right, hyung. Jiyong is in pain. I’m sorry.”

The older member turned back to his younger brother and patted his back warmly.

“It’s okay. There’ll be time to vent once Jiyong’s safe and I’ll be there to listen whenever you’re ready.”

Taeyang nodded appreciatively at his brother.

“Likewise, hyung.”

Seunghyun nodded in reply.

“I see another door up ahead.”

They both ran ahead and Seunghyun kicked down the door.

“Yes!”

\--

“Jiyong-hyung! Can you hear me?”

Daesung sat up a little to give his older brother room to come around. Seungri put a supportive hand on his leader’s back to help keep him steady. Jiyong coughed before he squinted his eyes tight. Eventually he opened his dark eyes slowly.

“S-Seungri?”

“It’s me, hyung. We’re here.”

Jiyong turned to see who’s arms he was currently enveloped in. He was relieved to see the familiar face.

“Daes-sung.”

“Hey, Ji-hyung. You're awake. How do you feel?”

Instead of answering his brother he turned his head and became very confused. His puzzlement was no doubt from being in a new environment, but it was also from the concussion which was the result of having been hit in the head numerous times. Sensing his brother’s confusion, Seungri leaned forward and took Jiyong’s hand.

“We’re outside, hyung. We’re away from that man. You don’t need to worry.”

They could both feel their leader’s small and damaged body tense at the mention of the man.

“It’s okay.”

Daesung reassured him.

“He’s gone now. It’s okay, hyung.”

He felt his older brother begin to relax into his hold again, but all of a sudden his body tensed up as he began to cough. The crimson liquid sputtered from Jiyong’s mouth as he leaned into Daesung’s body and grasped onto Seungri’s hand tight. Both of his younger brothers held onto him and did their best to comfort him through his latest fit.

“Shh, shh Ji-hyung. We’ve got you.”

Daesung pressed his cheek against his older brother’s damp hair as he whispered the soothing words.

Seungri gently rubbed his thumb up and down his leader’s hand in a calming rhythm. 

Both of their efforts seemed to work as Jiyong’s body began to still and relax once more.

“Good, hyung. Just relax. Seunghyun-hyung and Youngbae-hyung will be back soon. Hopefully they-“

“Speaking of which.”

Seungri interrupted as he saw both his older brothers emerge from the door.

They both ran over to the other downed members and kneeled down on the dust beside them.

“He’s awake?”

Taeyang asked.

“Just now.”

Seungri replied.

“He had another coughing fit, but it passed.”

Taeyang looked down at the blood between his leader’s legs that he had just spat up. He felt his worry begin to grow heavier. He reached out towards his injured brother.

“Can I take him?”

“Sure, hyung.”

Daesung and Seungri gently passed Jiyong over to Taeyang and Seunghyun so that he was now sitting on the oldest member’s lap.

The leader’s eyes focused again.

“H-Hyung.”

“Yeah, Jiyong. It’s me.”

Seunghyun smiled as Taeyang reached back and took out a bag.

Neither Daesung or Seungri said anything or asked about what had happened back in the building. They knew they should wait as what was happening now was urgent.

Taeyang reached into the bag and took out a water bottle. As he was doing so Seunghyun began to explain.

“We managed to find what must have been the old staff room. There wasn’t much, but we took what we could.”

Taeyang opened the bottle and held it out towards Jiyong.

“Ji, here’s some water.”

Seunghyun gently took the back of his little brother’s head and helped tilt him towards the clear beverage. 

Jiyong closed his eyes and let the cool liquid wash the blood from his mouth. It felt so nice. Seunghyun felt a smaller hand grasp his. He felt his leader’s hand fit perfectly in his own. His heart warmed at the action and he gripped back tightly. 

Once Taeyang took the bottle away from Jiyong’s mouth, his little brother opened his eyes again and smiled gently.

“T-Thank you.”

Taeyang smiled warmly back and set down the bottle. He reached back into the bag and took out two more and handed them to Daesung and Seungri who both lit up and began to drink.

Daesung drank almost half of his bottle before putting it down finally.

“So did he tell you anything? The man.”

There was a silence for a moment.

Seunghyun frowned before answering.

“He’s dead.”

Jiyong could feel the vibrations of his older brother’s booming voice through his chest that he was leaning against.

“D-Dead?”

“He killed himself.”

Taeyang added.

“Woah.”

Seungri exclaimed.

“That’s…”

Daesung began, but didn’t really know what to say.

“So we still don't know where were are?”

Seungri confirmed.

“No.”

Taeyang replied before reaching into his back pocket.

“But we did get this.”

He placed something onto the dust between them all.

Jiyong’s cell phone.


	8. Tonight

“I’m just not getting any bars.”

Taeyang paced slowly trying to do anything to get some sort of signal out of the phone. He held it up over his head knowing full well that it wouldn’t help, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Before long he returned to his brothers and kneeled beside them.

“Good news is it’s fully charged so I think if we start walking we may eventually be able to pick up some signal.”

Seunghyun nodded and turned to his younger brothers.

“What do you both think?”

Seungri and Daesung always appreciated that their older brothers always asked their opinion on important decisions, whether it be about a song choice or the profound situation that they currently found themselves in.

“Anything beats sitting here in the dust.”

Seungri replied.

“Yeah, hyung. Let’s do it.”

Daesung agreed.

The older rapper lastly turned to face down at his younger and less healthy counterpart.

“Jiyong, are you okay with that?”

The still conscious leader blinked up at him.

“Y-Yes.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Seunghyun went to stand, but decided to change his position.

“Youngbae, I’m going to carry Jiyong on my back.”

Taeyang wordlessly took Jiyong gently and stood up with him, letting him lean back against him to take the weight from his bad knee. This allowed Seunghyun to take a crouching position in front of him so that the singer was able to carefully place him on the tall rapper’s back. Seunghyun could now comfortably carry the smaller man as they walked.

Taeyang took point as he kept the phone firmly in his left hand. Seungri took the bag of water bottles and carried it as Daesung walked beside him. Seunghyun and Jiyong were behind the rest as the older rapper didn’t want to hurt his leader by walking too fast. At the moment, he had his arms hooked under Jiyong’s delicate knees. His little brother’s slim and toned arms hung over his broad shoulders and he could feel small trickles of blood drip down the side of his collar bone as Jiyong’s battered face was leaning heavily on his neck.

He was suddenly interrupted from his thoughts by a noise beside his ear and a rush of breath along his neck.

“Jiyong? Did you just laugh?”

It took a few moments before his brother replied.

“I-I’m your… b-back-pack, h-hyung.”

Seunghyun was a little surprised that Jiyong was still able to find some humour in this whole messed up situation, but then again, he wasn’t surprised at all.

It actually made him laugh too.

“Yes, except there’s nothing useful inside you.”

He joked back light heartedly.

They continued to laugh quietly together until Jiyong began to cough.

“It’s okay, Ji. Breathe.”

His coughing died down before it turned into a fit.

Seunghyun looked up the moonlight.

“It’s a cool night.”

He observed. When his brother didn’t reply he let out a sigh.

“How did we end up here, Jiyong? This time last week we were performing in front of eighty thousand people. Surrounded by people. Now we’re here. Alone. How the hell did this happen?”

He was speaking more to himself as he figured that Jiyong had fallen asleep.

“We’re h-here… b-because we were t-taken here.”

Seunghyun appreciated his leader’s matter-of-fact response.

“A-And we’re not a-alone, h-hyung.”

The older man felt the hold around his neck tighten slightly as his little brother did his best to weakly hug him.

This made Seunghyun smile.

“I know.”

Up ahead Taeyang was searching the horizon, doing his best to make out anything like a building or car. He figured maybe that he could blame the lack of anything in the distance on the darkness, but the moon was full. There was simply nothing out there.

All of a sudden he felt a vibration in his hand. He immediately looked at the screen and saw it light up. Notification after notification began to appear. They dated back from when they had originally been taken and just kept coming. Missed calls, text messages, online notifications. Only now that the signal had returned were they now appearing all at once.

Almost immediately the phone began to ring. It was YG. He answered, almost dropping the phone.

“Hello?! Hyung!”

Taeyang’s voice caused the other members to stop dead in their tracks and gather around him.

The phone was on speaker.

“Oh thank god! He answered! Jiyongie, where the hell have you been!? Are you all okay?”

“YG-hyung, it’s Youngbae. Jiyong is hurt. We don’t know where we are!”

The signal was pretty bad, but the members could hear a lot of shuffling and voices in the background.

“He—hurt? -veryon-else okay. Wh- appen-“

The signal was getting worse, but they could make out what he was saying barely.

“Yeah he’s hurt badly. Everyone else is okay. Listen hyung, we don’t know where we are. We were taken to a building in some desert in the middle of nowhere. We’ve just been walking for ages and only got signal-“

The line suddenly cut off.

“-now.”

Only beeping could be heard through the phone.

“Fuck!”

The singer yelled and almost threw the phone to the ground before Daesung firmly took hold of his arm.

“Hyung!”

Taeyang let out a breath trying to calm himself and brought the phone back up to his face.

“Signal’s gone again.”

“Don’t worry. YG-hyung knows we’re relatively okay now.”

Daesung offered.

This didn’t help.

“We’re not going to be okay if we don’t get Ji to a hospital! How long are we going to be wandering aimlessly through a god damn desert while he gets weaker and weaker, huh!?”

“Youngbae. That’s enough.”

Seunghyun said sternly.

The younger singer looked up at his older brother and let his eyes move down to his leader’s face. All he could see were his eyes from his heavy head resting on Seunghyun’s shoulder blade. They were filled with tiredness and sadness.

It took a lot for Taeyang to snap like this. Up until now he had been the one who had comforted the other members and no matter how many times Jiyong would reassure him that he was okay, he knew he really wasn’t.

“I’m sorry, hyung. It’s just- Finally we had a little bit of luck and now- We just have to keep moving.”

“Then we keep moving.”

Was his older brother’s reply.

“And who knows, hyung? The fact that we got signal is a good sign. It might return to us.”

Seungri did his best to reassure his brother.

“And- And now YG-hyung knows we’re alive and in a desert somewhere. It’s something!”

The youngest did his best to liven up Taeyang who in turn smiled a little.

“It’s something.”

Taeyang confirmed. 

“Can I carry him for a while?”

Taeyang still felt bad for his outburst. Especially for Jiyong as he remembered that sad and tired look in his eyes. They all knew he was in a bad way, but they each kept it inside and remained hopeful on the outside. Until his brief release of emotion. 

Now he just wanted to be close to his little brother so he took his damaged body from Seunghyun and gave him the phone in exchange.

Even with Jiyong now currently in his arms and with his small amount of weight against his back he still kept up a brief pace. He was determined now more than ever.

They all were.


	9. Love You To Death

None of them could tell how long they were walking for. Seunghyun hadn’t looked down at the phone since he took it from Taeyang so he didn’t even care what time it was. The sun was starting to rise and what looked like a narrow dusty road was now approaching.

They had been keeping hydrated and fairly entertained by either singing bits from their own songs or simply talking to each other, but they hadn’t stopped at all and as a result were all exhausted.

Once they reached the dusty road Taeyang slowed to wait for the others.

Seungri rolled his shoulders and stretched out his arms.

“Do you mind if we stop for just a few minutes? My legs feel like they might give way.”

Daesung asked Taeyang before reaching down and rubbing his shin with both hands.

“Yeah, that’s okay. I’m getting kind of stiff myself.”

The singer glanced behind his shoulder to see Jiyong’s head resting to the side. He was asleep.

“I’ll take him from you, hyung. Your muscles must be tired.”

Seungri offered and stepped forward.

“Thanks, Seungri. I think you’re right.”

Taeyang turned his back towards the youngest member and let his leader fall back into Seungri’s open arms. Jiyong’s head now rested against Seungri’s chest as his knees were draped over the younger man’s forearm. He remained asleep. 

The now free singer was able to stretch out fully and loosen up his stiff bones. 

“Any luck with the phone?”

Daesung asked the oldest member from his position down on the ground.

Seunghyun glanced down at the screen.

“Nothing, I’m afraid.”

He had forgotten about all of the previous messages that had come flooding in. He scrolled down through them. The first was from YG.

’Fri 22.24pm: Jiyong, security just called. You need to tell them when you go off somewhere. You should know that.’

’Fri 22.31pm: Answer your phone.’

‘Fri 22.44pm: Nobody can get through to any of you. Where are you?’

‘Fri 23.01pm: Jiyong, this is highly unprofessional. I need to see you ASAP.’

The last message must have been sent after everyone had realised that they were seriously in trouble.

‘Sat 00.14am: Jiyongie, please be okay.’

Seunghyun felt a deep sadness as he could see the confusion and panic set in throughout those messages. There were also messages and missed calls from Chaerin and other YG artists, Jiyong’s family and friends, even the other member’s family and friends. If any of the members ever had their phone switched off or were unreachable, their family would always contact Jiyong next. Partly because he was their leader, but also because they were all close.

He could see all of the support from friends and loved ones, he could only imagine the support coming in from fans online.

It was now 5.59am on Monday morning. They had been kept in that place for two days. He can’t imagine how worried everyone was. All this time he had been so concerned and worried only about Jiyong and the other members. Which he wouldn’t change for anything because that’s what needed to be done. But now that they were free and after seeing his leader’s phone he only really began to think about all of their loved ones had felt during that time.

“I’ve been going through some of the messages on Ji’s phone.”

“Man, I didn’t even think-“

Taeyang began and stepped forward a few steps.

“There are so many calls and texts.”

The oldest member held out the phone which Taeyang took and gazed out before scrolling through.

“YG.. Chaerin.. Mother-“

The singer trailed off when he saw that it wasn’t just the leader’s mother who had tried to ring. He was also touched that his little brother had every member’s mother’s numbers saved into his phone or at least a member of their family.

“M-Mother?”

The voice belonged to Jiyong.

Seungri looked down at the small man in his arms. He had his own arm weakly outstretched towards Taeyang, who in seeing this, approached him. Once he reached his leader he handed him the phone which his brother took in his good hand.

He scrolled straight to the last message from his mother. It was a voice message from late last night. He tapped his shaking finger on the screen to play the message and held it up to his ear. Neither of his brothers could hear what was being said on the other end of the phone and they didn’t want to invade Jiyong’s privacy. They simply exchanged a look between each other which conveyed how sorry they felt.  


Jiyong closed his eyes as he listened to his mother on the phone. Seungri could feel the body tremble in his arms. Seunghyun looked away as he felt that even looking towards his hurt brother was intrusive. Daesung felt his heart warm up at the sight of the boy listening to his mother’s voice.

After another minute Jiyong lowered the phone and opened his eyes. A tear immediately fell down his cheek.

“I-I just wanted to h-hear her voice.”

He whispered and raised his hand up to cover his face.

“Hey, Ji. You’ll hear her voice again very soon. I promise.”

Taeyang placed his hand gently on his leader’s chest. Seungri bent down slowly and kissed the hand that covered his injured face. He lightly took the hand and moved it away from his face. 

“You’ll see her face, hyung.”

The youngest brother whispered and brushed back Jiyong’s damp, black hair. His older brother blinked through his cloudy eyes up at him. Seungri smiled down at him lovingly.

“Hey, guys. Look!”

Seunghyun suddenly called out. As he was the only member not looking over at where the others were he had spotted something in the distance.

“I think it’s- It’s a truck!”

“You’re kidding!”

Taeyang ran over beside his older brother and squinted to see the vehicle. 

“Tell me that isn’t a truck!”

Taeyang smiled and began waving his arms. Daesung immediately took off his shirt and started to join his brother in waving at the truck which was now in plain view. The vehicle beeped shortly and began to head for them.

“Yes!”

Seunghyun put his hand up to his forehead.

“Oh thank God.”

Jiyong raised his head up a little to try to make out what was happening. Seungri walked towards the noise and laughed.

“Ji-hyung, it’s a truck! It’s coming for us.”

The hurt leader did his best to concentrate, but heavy lids were fighting his consciousness.

The pick-up truck finally made it to them. A friendly looking man with one arm resting on the open window poked his head out the window.

“Hey, are you boys lost?”

“You have no idea! We’re so happy to see a friendly face.”

Taeyang replied.

The man chuckled.

“Need a lift- Oh my-”

He caught a glimpse of the now unconscious man.

Seunghyun glanced to Jiyong and back to the man.

“He’s hurt badly. We need to get him help.”

“Big Bang!”

A high voice came from behind the man. A little girl sitting in the passenger seat had her hands on her cheeks. She must have recognised Seunghyun’s voice.

The man all of a sudden realised.

“Big Bang? So you’re- I read about you guys. Hop in.”

“Thank you so much.”

Taeyang replied as the members quickly climbed into the back of the truck. The little girl stared at them and caught a glimpse of the leader.

She gasped.

“Daddy! What’s wrong with GD?”

The man looked at his daughter and then into the rear view mirror.

“There isn’t a hospital for miles, but we do have a land line back at the house. I’ll do my best to patch up your friend until help arrives.”

He called back to them before taking off back towards civilisation.

Seungri looked down at his older brother, unconscious and noticed that his breathing sounded more uneven and ragged.

"Just hang on, Ji-hyung."


	10. Oh My Friend

It was now around 9am on Monday morning. They had reached their saviour’s house and were welcomed with open arms, especially since the man’s daughter was a huge fan of theirs. She couldn’t stop smiling at them, but when she actually got a good look at Jiyong she became terrified.

“I’m Seojun and that’s my daughter Jiyeon.”

They were in the kitchen now, sitting around the table except for Seunghyun. He was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the hallway as Jiyong was in Jiyeon’s room. He was resting in her small bed. 

Seunghyun simply wanted to keep an eye on him.

“Thank you for picking us up.”

Daesung kindly said.

“Once I knew who you were it instantly clicked. It was all over the news. ‘BigBang disappears!’ ‘BigBang kidnapped!’. Nobody knew what happened to you.”

Seojun looked down at his daughter who was standing against the wall near Seunghyun, too shy to do anything.

“She’s eight years old. I didn’t tell her. I couldn’t. You guys are her world.”

Seunghyun turned to look down at the girl. She lifted her chin to look up at the tall man. He smiled at her before bending down closer to her level. Once they were closer in height, he held out his hand warmly.

“Hello there. I’m T.O.P.”

The little girl instantly smiled and took his hand.

“Hi T.O.P! My name is Jiyeon.”

“Nice to meet you, Jiyeon.”

“Nice to meet you, T.O.P!”

She still held his hand, but she looked down at the floor and bit her lip.

“Um, T.O.P?”

Seunghyun thought that she was adorable. The other members watched the innocent child and smiled.

“Yes, Jiyeon?”

“What’s wrong with GD?”

The rapper blinked before looking up at everyone else and rose to stand back up, not letting go of the girl’s hand.

“I’ll tell you what, Jiyeon.”

He led her over to her father and mouthed ‘water’. The man instantly got up and retrieved a glass of water for the tall rapper.

“Why don’t you bring this to him? I’m sure he’d love to meet you.”

Her eyes lit up.

“Really?”

Seunghyun chuckled and handed her the glass.

“Of course!”

“Okay, T.O.P. I’ll do it!”

She enthusiastically replied before turning on her heels and heading for her bedroom.

Seunghyun then decided to join his fellow members once he knew that there would be someone with Jiyong.

The little girl slowly edged closer to her doorway, being careful not to spill any water on her way. She reached her doorway and stepped through apprehensively. Her room was covered in posters of the members. The walls, the door, even the ceiling. She let her eyes wander upon all of the wonderful and colourful outfits and hairstyles that the members had in every poster. Then her eager eyes eventually fell to her bed and to the body now lying back against the headboard, head hung to his chest.

G-Dragon looked nothing like he did on the poster behind him on the wall.

Once she was right beside him she went to put the glass of water on the bedside table, but it was occupied with a bowl of slightly tinted red water, some bandages and a damp cloth. Instead she held onto the glass and looked up at Jiyong’s face. His eyes were closed and there were patches of dark around his eye and mouth. She didn’t really understand anything.

“E-Excuse me, Mr GD?”

It took a moment for the injured man to react to anything. His brow furrowed for a second before he slowly opened his tired eyes. He stared ahead before painfully shifting his gaze to the little person standing beside him.

“H-Hello down t-there…”

She was nervous. G-Dragon was her favourite.

“Um, I brought you some water.”

She held up the glass with both hands towards him.

He smiled at how cute she was before he attempted to lift his arm. He immediately grimaced at the action. At this stage his muscles really ached.

“Are you okay?”

Jiyong laughed apologetically. 

“I-I’m afraid I can’t lift m-my arm r-right now...”

The girl thought hard for a second before she gasped enthusiastically.

“I’ll be right back!”

She suddenly set the glass on the floor before running out of the room. Jiyong took this time now that he was awake for the first time in this place to take in his surroundings. He looked at all of the pictures of him and his brothers on this little girl’s wall. It was strange to see things from a young fan’s perspective. It made him smile.

He saw the items on the bedside table that he gathered had been used to treat him. He could hear the deep voices coming from a different room. 

Before long the girl returned and picked up the glass again, this time with a straw in the water. She pulled a footstool up to the bed and stood up so that she could reach her hero. She held the glass up to him so that he could take the straw in his mouth. He took small sips of the water. He closed his eyes. It felt so nice.

Once he took his head away she stepped back down and placed the glass on the floor again.

“T-Thank you little one.”

The girl thought back to the way Seunghyun had introduced himself. She instantly stood back up onto the stool and held out her hand.

“My name is Jiyeon. Nice to meet you!”

Suddenly remembering that he couldn’t lift his arm, she sheepishly took his wrist from his luckily undamaged arm and held it up for her other hand to take.

The leader grinned, genuinely amused at how cute the girl was and gripped her hand.

“Jiyeon? T-That’s a lot l-like my name.”

“But your name is GD?”

The girl innocently replied.

“Yes, but the name my m-mommy gave me is Jiyong.”

“Wow really?”

Jiyeon excitedly asked.

“Jiyong sounds just like Jiyeon!”

Jiyong smiled.

“Yes it does. H-How about we make a deal, Jiyeon?”

“A deal?”

“Yes. We both call each other Ji. T-That makes us friends.”

Jiyeon gasped.

“Friends? With you?”

Jiyong nodded and smiled genuinely.

“Deal!”

The girl was over the moon with excitement. She jumped forward on top of her new friend and hugged him. Because she didn’t understand what had happened she had no idea that Jiyong was hurt.

The sudden pressure on his body caused him to groan from the pain. The girl instantly sat up from him puzzled.

“Ji, what’s wrong?”

The leader thought about what he should tell her for a moment.

“I g-got hurt. That’s why we're here with you and your d-daddy.”

Jiyeon looked at her friend with complete innocence.

“But who would hurt you? You’re so nice!”

There was no way he was telling her the truth. It would crush her and she definitely would not understand.

He hesitated.

“… A very bad man, Ji.”

Suddenly she went into protective mode. She stood up on her stool and pointed to the roof.

“Nobody hurts my friends!”

The little girl’s reaction warmed Jiyong’s heart.

“I-It’s okay. The b-bad man is gone.”

She sat back down beside him.

“T-Thank you, Ji. I’m glad to have a friend as g-good as you.”

He smiled at her. She returned the smile shyly. She saw some red shine on the rapper’s lip. She instantly reached down to the cloth on the bedside table. She dipped it into the basin of water and placed it against Jiyong’s lip. Her tongue stuck out in concentration. 

She may not have understood the extent of the situation, but she could see the sadness in her friend’s eyes.

“Ji, w-will you do me a favour?”

The leader asked the little girl.

“Of course, Ji!”

She beamed back at him.

“I-I need you to look after me. C-Can you do that for me?”

The girl pushed herself up so that she was now sitting up beside her new best friend.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Ji. You can count on me!”

Jiyong’s eyes started to close.

“I-I couldn’t ask for a better f-friend.”

With that, his head leaned over and rested on the little girl’s shoulder.

She protectively wrapped her small arm around his and took his hand in both of hers.

They stayed like this. Just the two of them. As Jiyong rested against Jiyeon’s smaller shoulder he didn’t sleep. He just needed to rest his head and his eyes. The little girl let out a quiet sigh, telling him that she was completely comfortable before she began to sing quietly.

“If the world makes you sad say my name whenever and wherever. I am 119 emergency, for you only. I’m only 5 minutes away…”

Jiyong smiled silently and whispered.

“Oh my friend.”

Suddenly a figure peaked through the door.

“Ji, help should be here in an hour-“

Taeyang stopped once he saw the heart warming sight in the little girl’s bedroom. He rested his arm against the frame.

“Thank you, little one.”


	11. Kwon Ji Yong

“This is breaking news, just coming in now. Members of Big Bang have made contact with management. At this time we are unsure of the details of where the group have been for the past several days, but we can confirm that leader, G-Dragon, real name Kwon Ji Yong, is injured and is being transported via helicopter to an unknown medical facility. Fellow members are currently with him at this time. Speculation is that they were taken against their will. We will be sure to keep you updated as soon as we know more.”  
-  
They had been brought in through the back entrance of the hospital as to avoid any press awaiting their arrival. Taeyang, Seunghyun, Seungri and Daesung were in the private waiting room lounge. As soon as they got to the facility they were examined for any kind of injuries or trauma. The kind of trauma they were under would have to be dealt with at a later date by a different type of doctor. 

Right now, Jiyong was in surgery. It had been about three hours. The remaining members were just happy to know that their leader was being taken care of by professionals. It was a comfortable room so they had a chance to finally get some rest. They were quite a ways from Seoul so family and friends had a long way to travel to see them.

All of a sudden the door for the room silently opened. As Daesung and Seunghyun were asleep, Taeyang and Seungri eyed the person who slowly entered in apprehension.

“YG-hyung!”

Seungri shot up and ran for his senior.

“There you are!”

YG held out his arms and embraced the young man tightly. He was so happy to see his young friends again. The noise of the loving embrace caused both Seunghyun and Daesung to wake.

The CEO came into the room and embraced all of the members one by one.

“Seeing you all safe is such a relief!”

“Hyung, it’s so good to see your face!”

Daesung laughed.

“Hyung, we’re sorry. We didn’t have any way of-“

“Don’t Seunghyun. None of this was any of your fault.”

He looked down at Taeyang’s hands which were still partially caked in blood. He looked up into the singer’s eyes and watched the sadness inside.

“Boys, what happened? All I heard was from the news and what I could make out from your phone call.”

Taeyang gulped. The older man sensed the singer’s apprehension so he took the crimson stained hand in his own.

“This man. Took us to some place in the middle of nowhere. He- He forced us to-“

He let out a sigh and rubbed his hand through his hair.

“He forced us to hurt Ji. One by one.”

“What?”

YG was completely taken aback.

Seungri leaned forward this time.

“Hyung, Ji-hyung was told that if we didn’t do what the man said that he would hurt us.”

“At first we refused to hurt him, but Ji-hyung made us promise to. To protect us.”

Daesung added.

“It eventually got to the point where Jiyong couldn’t take anymore. We begged him to let us stop, hyung.”

Seunghyun said, eyes welling up.

YG placed a reassuring hand on the oldest member’s knee.

Taeyang blinked and looked at Seunghyun before continuing for him.

“Once we had his permission, we refused. We told that- that man that we were done.”

There was a silence for a moment.

“Then he let us go.”

“He-“

YG was going to ask but trailed off once he saw Taeyang squeeze his eyes shut and felt his hand grip his own tighter.

“He was never going to hurt us, hyung. He only said he would to see how far we’d go. We were an experiment.”

Daesung explained as he looked down at his knee, thinking to when he smashed his leader’s.

Seungri turned to YG and sadly frowned.

“We hurt him, hyung. Our leader. Our brother. We are all responsible for his pain.”

Seunghyun reached into his pocket and took out the disc. He held it out to YG.

“And it’s all on here.”

The older man looked at Seunghyun puzzled.

“For the police, he said. Doesn’t matter anyway. He’s dead. Killed himself.”

YG took the disc from the rapper’s hand and stared at it. After a moment he tucked it into his jacket pocket. He would be giving this to the police.

“Boys, listen to me.”

The members all sat around their hyung.

“None of you are to blame for what happened. You were forced to do all of those things.”

“But hyung, none of us have a scratch on us. How can-“

Seungri began before he was cut off.

“It was the situation, Seungri. Force is not always physical. Jiyong was protecting you and you respected and trusted him as a leader to do what he asked. Sure, you hurt him physically, but he trusted you all enough that he asked you to let it happen.”

None of the members said anything.

“You have no idea how proud of you all I am. As members. As brothers. As family.”

He then reached in and gathered them all in a hug which they instantly returned. It was the first time in what felt like forever that any of them felt any sort of warmth.

They each stayed like this for as long as they could. And they would have stayed with him longer had the door not been opened suddenly. 

The surgeon entered with his mask removed and hands washed clean. They each broke their embrace and stood up to approach the doctor.

“Doctor.”

Taeyang said instantly.

“Hello there. I’m the surgeon who worked on Mr Kwon. My name is Uk.”

YG held out his hand.

“Thank you, Uk.”

“How is he?”

Seunghyun asked.

“Well, he’s in recovery. When he was brought in he was bleeding internally. Fortunately, we were able to stop the bleeding and prevent any further internal damage.”

The oldest member breathed a sigh of relief. That had been his primary concern ever since he felt his fist impact Jiyong’s abdomen.

“There is some severe bruising to his abdomen and face. His left cheekbone is fractured as well as his right eye socket. His left hand is broken in several places and his left knee-cap is shattered.”

YG felt a horrible weight in his stomach listening to the list of injuries. All of the members felt unbelievably heavy with burden, despite their leader’s initial request that they don’t.

“He was also running a high fever so we have him on antibiotics to keep his temperature down.”

He eventually lowered his chart and looked at them each.

“He’s a strong young man. He’s going to be okay, but it’s going to take some time and hard work for him to recover fully. That’s where you guys come in, okay?”

Uk smiled warmly at them. He was aware that they had all been through a very rough few days.

The surgeon looked to YG.

“You can see him if you like.”

The man turned to the members almost as if to ask permission.

“Go on, hyung. Please. We won’t crowd him.”

Daesung reassured the older man.

“Thank you, boys. I’ll be back.”

He followed the surgeon through the door and across the hall. They reached the dark wooden door at the end. Uk had his hand on the door handle. He turned before opening.

“I will warn you. He looks bad, but it’s mostly bruising.”

YG nodded and entered the room. It was comfortably dim, no doubt to not strain the young man’s tired eyes. He approached the bed. The figure of Kwon Jiyong became clear as the older man reached the side of his bed.

The man felt a breath leave his lungs at the sight of the bruised and battered leader who looked so small and delicate. He knew deep down that he was anything but. 

He took in each bruise, each cut, each bone that looked misshapen. 

He placed a gentle hand over the younger man’s own. Jiyong’s eyes slowly opened at the touch and YG felt a slight grip in his hand.

“H-Hyu-“

“Jiyongie, it’s me.”

The corner of the leader’s mouth turned upwards as he clearly made out the familiar face and relief rushed through his body.

YG smiled in return. Seeing the young man smile behind all of those violent bruises and heavy-lidded eyes was the best contradiction.

The smile in Jiyong’s face faded as he closed his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry…”

YG took this moment to pull up a chair and sit, taking the younger man’s hand in both of his now. Jiyong knew to look at him now.

“As I told your brothers, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for.”

Jiyong didn’t respond. He just blinked heavily.

“You are what it means to be a leader, Jiyongie.”

The rapper was not expecting that sentence.

“The boys told me what happened.”

The younger man’s gaze shifted down to the blanket, unable to look his hyung in the face.

“Hey, look at me. Jiyongie.”

YG reached his hand up and gently guided the man’s face back towards him.

“I am so proud of you. And I love you.”

Jiyong smiled and gripped the man’s hand a little tighter.

“We’ll all get through this together. As a family. We can do this, okay?”

The young man nodded.

“F-Fighting…”


	12. Superstar

Jiyong was kept in the hospital for one week. The doctors wanted to keep an eye on his body temperature before they would let him leave. This also gave his bones a little time to begin to heal. During this time, family and friends came to see them. Some YG members came too including Chaerin and Mino. But Jiyong really was glad to see his parents. They had been so worried about him and his members. Seeing them again made him feel like he would actually be able to begin to recover.

Once it was decided that Jiyong was okay to leave the care of the doctors, everybody was flown back to Seoul. Medication was given to YG himself as he would count him as his guardian when his parents weren’t there. They would of course be there for him, but they couldn’t be by his side constantly. And as everybody knew, when Jiyong was ever in any pain or was going through a tough time – he worked.

So he was in the studio, not doing anything in particular. He was still in very poor condition and couldn’t move around without a wheelchair or crutches. He sat at his computer, just staring at the blank screen. His mind felt numb.

He intentionally avoided watching the news or reading any articles as it only reminded him of what they all had gone through. And the way the media was, a lot of articles were embellished or simply just not true. 

Come to think of it, did the public know what happened?

He trailed his eyes down along his arm and up to his hand. The broken one. It was wrapped in a bandage and was discoloured from the break. He moved his fingers slightly and just let them dance before his eyes. 

Just then, the door opened and YG walked in. He closed the door behind him and walked to Jiyong. He sat back against the desk and held out a pill and a glass of water.

“How do you feel?”

He asked warmly.

The rapper took the pill and swallowed with the water before handing the glass back to the older man.

“Okay.”

He eventually replied.

“Any headaches today?”

Jiyong looked down before nodding.

“Not as bad as yesterday.”

YG put the glass on the desk beside him and noticed that the smaller man was holding his stomach.

“Have you eaten at all?”

He gripped his stomach slightly tighter in response.

“It hurts, but not from hunger. I don’t feel- I-“

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re just not hungry, that’s okay.”

He could sense the younger man’s unease so his reply was as warm as he could make it.

“Hyung?”

“Hm?”

The rapper was playing with the fabric of his shirt against his abdomen.

“Does everybody know what happened? What really happened I mean.”

YG didn’t reply right away. He looked down at the boy’s hand held protectively against his body.

The older man reached into his pocket and took out the disc that Seunghyun had given to him.

“They can, but only if you want them to.”

Jiyong was confused as he looked at the disc.

“What do you mean?”

YG let out a sad sigh.

“Seunghyun gave this to me. When you were in the hospital.”

That didn’t make it any clearer for him.

“What is it?”

There was a pause.

“There was a camera in that place, Jiyong.”

The leader’s gaze shifted back to the disc, but he didn’t say anything.

“He gave it to us for evidence.”

“W-Why would-“

Jiyong’s eyes were getting misty as he kept staring at the evidence.

“I guess he must have felt some regret.”

“But he’s dead.”

YG nodded and patted the disc against his knee.

“Yes. Yes he is.”

The older man felt the disc being taken from his hand. The rapper now held it in his own shaky grip.

“So- You’ve seen it?”

He didn’t answer right away.

“I have.”

The younger man shut his eyes and gripped the disc tight. He didn’t say anything.

“Jiyong, it was- I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for you. For any of you. And I need you to know that if you don’t want this disc to be seen by anyone, that’s absolutely okay. We’ll release a statement to ask for a respect of privacy.”

The leader rubbed his nose with his sleeve, eyes still closed.

“But if you want to disclose the full extent of what happened to the police and public it won’t be for nothing. The rest of his men could be caught and this media circus could end. It is completely your decision, Jiyongie, and I’ll respect whatever you decide. So will the others. Okay?”

The injured man was silent and in his own head at that moment. The older man watched the battle in his fuzzy head and wondered how much pressure he had just put his young friend under.

Jiyong slowly opened his heavy eyes and let out a slow breath. He held out his hand and gave the disc back to YG.

“Let them see.”

He finally said in a small voice.

“Are you sure, Jiyong?”

He nodded in reply.

“Maybe then I’ll be able to sleep.”

\--

It had been a day. A day after the footage had been handed to the police for it to leak to the press. And the result was chaos. The media went crazy. 

‘Big Bang kidnapped by Psycho!’

‘K-pop Icons star in new Saw Movie.’

‘G-Dragon tortured by his own members.’

There were even interviews of crying fans asking how they could do this to him after all these years.

Due to the media response, a meeting was called for the members in the YG building.

“Do you believe what they’re saying? It’s there, clear as day, what happened and they’re still saying that we-“

Taeyang paced back and forth in the meeting room, not bothering to sit at the large table. He was beyond frustrated.

“You know what the media is like, hyung. Anything and everything is taken out of context or exaggerated. Even if it’s right in front of their face.”

Daesung interjected colourfully.

“Look, the public knows what happened. We gave them the information. It’s up to them how they process that.”

Seunghyun spoke rationally.

“What if we could help them?”

YG asked at the head of the table.

“What do you mean, hyung?”

Seungri asked innocently.

The CEO glanced around the table. Taeyang had stopped pacing and was now standing and leaning on the back of his chair.

“How would you feel about doing an interview?”

“An interview?”

Daesung repeated.

“The five of you together. Say what happened and then a few questions.”

YG explained. 

Nobody said anything. Instead they looked at each other questioningly.

“Jiyong, what do you think?”

At the other end of the table, the leader sat. Shoulders hunched, eyes dark and head forward.

He coughed quietly.

“I- well, if it helps understand-“

He trailed off and looked up at his members before eventually nodding.

“Hyung, are you sure?”

Seungri double checked.

Again, his leader nodded.

YG stood up.

“Okay, I’ll make some calls.”

The man made his way to the exit. Gently placing his hand on Jiyong’s shoulder as he passed him. Once he closed the door Taeyang stood up straight.

“Ji, we’ll be right beside you. All of us.”

The small leader smiled at his brothers surrounding him.

They would always be beside him.

\--

‘Good evening, I’m Yoo Mina and you’re joining me for an exclusive interview with the members of Big Bang for the first time since their kidnapping three weeks ago. Now, there has been some significant media coverage throughout the last few weeks all with conflicting and contrasting details. That is despite the leaked video evidence of the events that took place. This interview is to help clarify for everyone at home what happened and to hopefully shed some light on the motivation and aftermath of what took place. Big Bang, thank you for choosing to be so open about everything. Please, can you start from the beginning? What do you remember from the night of the kidnapping?’

The members were sat on a long couch. Jiyong had worn his mask on the way to the venue to help hide his face from the cameras. He removed it for the interview. His dark hair was down over his forehead and his face was in the process of healing, but there was still heavy bruising on his smooth skin. His hand was still bandaged and his injured knee stuck out straight. His crutches were kept in the back.

Taeyang was the closest to Ms Yoo. Jiyong was beside him and Seunghyun on the far side. Daesung and Seungri were on a separate and taller chair behind them so that they were above them. They completely surrounded Jiyong protectively.

The leader’s body language was closed off and timid. Not usually what he was like on television. He spoke confidently and with his hands when recalling a funny story or doing an impression. But not now. He was hunched and quiet. Taeyang was the one to answer Ms Yoo’s question.

“We just remember waking up in that room. We were only told afterwards by management that we had been leaving an exhibition when we were separated from security somehow. Then we were miles away.”

Seungri took his turn.

“We woke up chained to the ground. Jiyong-hyung wasn’t there at first. They brought him in about ten minutes after.”

Ms Yoo nodded.

“Jiyong, you didn’t wake up with the rest of your members?”

The leader answered quietly.

“N-No. I woke up in a different room. With him.”

He tangled his hands together in his lap.

“Okay, so the man you are referring to is the man who was effectively ‘in charge’?”

She accentuated this with her fingers.

Jiyong nodded.

“I-I’m sorry I never knew his name. I haven’t been-“

“He hasn’t been watching the news.”

Taeyang added.

Ms Yoo felt her heart break a little at the leader’s apology.

“No need for the apology, Jiyong.”

She looked down at her notes.

“I can confirm now that the man in question is named Kim Minjun.”

Jiyong didn’t say anything in reply.

“So, you were brought back to the other members after speaking with Kim?”

The leader nodded.

“I told them what he told me.”

“What did he tell you?”

Jiyong took a moment and blinked slowly.

“H-He said that we were to do what he said or- or there would be consequences.”

Taeyang and Seunghyun could feel the smaller man between them tremble slightly.

Ms Yoo nodded.

“Could you explain that more?”

The oldest member spoke up now.

“We were told that if we did what Kim told us, it would only affect Jiyong, but if we refused, the consequences would be for all of us.”

“Jiyong made us promise to do what Kim told us.”

Taeyang added and placed his hand on his little brother’s uninjured knee.

“To protect us.”

Daesung spoke from behind them.

“And what did he tell you to do?”

There was silence for a moment.

“Well, you saw the tape. Everybody saw it.”

Seunghyun said deeply.

Jiyong looked down at his hands.

“We hurt him, Ms Yoo. One by one, we hurt him.”

Seungri clearly stated, sadness in his voice.

“I can promise you right now.”

Taeyang began.

“It was the hardest thing any of us has ever had to do and it’s something that will be embedded in our memory forever.”

Seunghyun nodded in agreement and gently gripped Jiyong’s arm warmly.

Ms Yoo nodded sympathetically, really feeling for them.

“Jiyong, can you please tell us what was going through your mind when all of this was happening?”

The small rapper didn’t move or say anything for a few moments. He kept staring at his hands as he felt Taeyang’s hand on his knee and Seunghyun grip his arm. Seungri and Daesung felt like guardian angels over his shoulders. Warmth radiated from each of them and enveloped his broken body.

“I-I am their leader. I am responsible for them. B-But above all of that, I am their brother and I care deeply for every one of them.”

He eventually looked up slowly to Ms Yoo and met her eyes.

“I-If taking a beating from them is the o-only way I can protect them, then it’s no choice for me at all.”

He blinked as he felt a tear in his eye. He sighed sadly.

“So that’s what I did.”

Ms Yoo felt her eyes begin to well up at the sight of the small man being made defend the group in such a messed up situation.

“Do you need to take a moment?”

Ms Yoo asked kindly.

Jiyong sniffed and smiled shyly.

“N-No, thank you. I’m alright.”

Seunghyun appreciated that the interviewer was sympathetic and seemed to be genuinely invested in the member’s situation.

“So if we move forward, what led to you eventually being released?”

Daesung shifted in his seat before answering.

“Well, it got to the stage where we begged Jiyong-hyung to let us refuse. We wouldn’t go against his wish.”

Taeyang added.

“Yes. He was bleeding internally, so we asked him could we stop and face the consequences.”

“Please, go on.”

“We did. We told Kim that we were done. And he let us go.”

Seunghyun said.

“He let you go?”

The oldest replied.

“He told us that it was all just an experiment to see how far we would go and to see if were as close as we seemed on tv.”

“He said he was a fan. Had even been to our concerts.”

Seungri added.

Ms Yoo almost didn’t know what to say.

“I must say that has taken me by surprise. His motive.”

“I know.”

Taeyang agreed.

“It all seemed so pointless.”

Jiyong spoke quietly, not looking at anything in particular. Like his eyes were made from glass.

Ms Yoo was pretty sure that that was the moment her heart broke.

Seungri put his hands on his leader’s shoulders gently and continued.

“We walked for miles. It took a whole night for somebody to find us.”

“Seojun and Jiyeon. Father and daughter. They looked after us and Jiyong-hyung until we were brought to a hospital.”

Daesung clarified.

“And here we are.”

Taeyang finalised.

Ms Yoo took a moment to stop herself from crying before continuing.

“We can now confirm that Kim Minjun took his own life after releasing you on Monday morning. Police are now in the process of apprehending his assailants. Big Bang, thank you so much for your time and for talking about what happened so directly. Do you have any final words for the people watching?”

Taeyang nodded and looked into the camera.

“For the fans I would just like to say please do not be worried. We would never hurt Jiyong or any of us intentionally. Please help us to heal together and we will do our best to make you smile again.”

Jiyong slowly looked up at the camera and smiled the best he could.

“Fighting.”

The camera stopped rolling.

Ms Yoo immediately approached the members and bent down at Jiyong’s level.

“I am so sorry for everything that has happened to you all. Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you.”

Jiyong nodded and smiled genuinely through tired eyes.

“Thank you, Ms Yoo. You were very respectful and I am grateful to you. We all are.”

Seungri had brought his leader’s wheelchair and they exited through flashing lights into the car.

“Well done everybody.”

Taeyang said.

“Ji-hyung, you were great.”

Seungri said reassuringly.

He looked over at his leader who had his head resting on his oldest brother’s shoulder.

“Ji? Will we take you home?”

Seunghyun asked.

“S-Studio.”

The taller rapper looked back up at his members. 

“I’ll stay with him tonight.”

\--

Seunghyun helped Jiyong inside the studio. The smaller man almost collapsed onto the couch as soon as his older brother let go of him. He took a blanket and placed it over the injured man. They always had blankets there due to frequent overnight sessions.

“Sleep, Jiyong. You did really well today. I'm proud of you.”

Heavy lids looked up at him.

“Thank- hyu-“

He was out before he could finish his sentence.

This made Seunghyun smile as he took a seat at the desk. He wasn’t tired so he began to right some lyrics down. He definitely had a lot of material from the last month in his head.

He didn’t know how long he had been writing for. It must have been at least two or three hours. The tall man looked up at the clock.

It was four a.m.

Time had passed so fast. He wasn’t tired so he turned back to his work, but before he could continue he was startled by a noise from the couch.

It was Jiyong. 

“No! No! Stop!”

Seunghyun was instantly by his little brother’s side.

“Jiyong. Ji, it’s me.”

The screaming continued. Jiyong was sweating and struggling in Seunghyun’s grip.

“Please! Please!”

The leader shouted, eyes still closed.

“Jiyong! Wake up!”

He shook his shoulders roughly. This seemed to be working as his leader became quieter and eventually stopped screaming. His eyes slowly opened and his pupils rolled forward to begin to try to focus. The sweat poured down his bruised face, hair damp and breathing ragged. Once he focused on the face above him he stilled.

“It’s me, Jiyong. It’s me.”

Suddenly the smaller man reached up and wrapped his arms around his older brother’s body and buried his head in his torso.

He cried all night as Seunghyun held onto him for dear life.


	13. Still Alive

It was 6am when Seunghyun woke up. He found himself lying on the couch in the studio. He didn’t remember making the move over here, but when he investigated some more he figured it out. He was facing the back of the couch and in between him and the fabric was Jiyong, bundled in his arms. The smaller man’s hands were resting on Seunghyun’s chest as the older rapper swore that this was the most at peace he had seen his leader since before everything had happened. His face, although still bruised heavily, was relaxed. There were no hints of pain like when he had passed out back in the building from exhaustion or when he became overwhelmed. The skin underneath his eyes was dark, almost like he hadn’t slept in a year. And judging from his attack a few hours previous, Seunghyun guessed that he hadn’t had a full nights’ sleep in quite some time. What about the nights that he wasn’t here? 

He had never seen his leader truly scared. Sure, back in the deserted room he watched him go through so many emotions and feelings; confusion, anger, frustration, exhaustion. He watched him go through physical pain, but never once did he seem afraid. Perhaps afraid for the other members maybe.

But this was different. Whatever he saw in his nightmare must have been terrifying. Seunghyun remembered back in the dorms when Seungri would have a nightmare or panic attack and Jiyong was the first to come to his bedside and comfort him. It was so strange to him to see his leader on the other side. It made the older man pull him a little closer to him, warmth radiating from the smaller boy’s body.

Jiyong’s gentle and steady breaths brushed against Seunghyun’s collar bone as he tucked his head into his older brother’s chest. Almost as if for protection. He felt like he never wanted to let the younger man go.

How many times in the last week did Jiyong wake up screaming and nobody was there?

He wasn’t going to let that happen again. It was a promise he made to himself.

He leaned his forehead down to rest on top of the injured boy’s black hair and sighed quietly.

“I’m sorry, Jiyong. I won’t leave you alone again.”

“s’okay, hyung.”

Seunghyun felt the faint vibration of the younger man’s voice against his chest.

“Are you alright?”

His older brother’s deep voice soothed Jiyong.

“Just a bad dream.”

The rapper lazily replied, eyes still closed and unmoving.

“Ji, you were screaming. You seemed terrified.”

Seunghyun informed him.

There was a slight pause.

“I’m sorry if I upset you, hyung.”

The older man shifted, lifting his face from Jiyong’s head. He gently lifted the smaller body from his so that Jiyong’s head was resting back against the chair back. His delicate hands remained on Seunghyun’s chest. The taller man watched as heavy eyes opened slowly and focused on the face in front of him.

“This isn’t the first time, is it?”

His leader blinked and frowned slightly. His gaze shifted down to his hands. Seunghyun knew he didn’t want to admit anything.

“Jiyong, please.”

His sincere tone caused the damaged boy to return his eye contact and let out a sigh.

“Every night since we left the hospital.”

Seunghyun felt a wave of guilt wash over him.

“Oh, Ji. Why didn’t you tell anybody?”

Jiyong shifted shyly in his older brother’s arms, eyes welling up.

“I-I’ve already caused so much worry for everyone. I don’t want to burden any-“

“Stop right now.”

Seunghyun inwardly cursed himself as he felt the smaller man tense in his embrace, but he needed to listen to him.

“You are not a burden, Jiyong. To anyone.”

His leader closed his eyes, trying to stop tears from escaping.

“You’re in pain and you’re not alone. We all knew that it was going to take some time for you to heal and- and I know inside will never heal completely.”

Seunghyun took one of his leader’s hands from his own chest and held on tight.

“I’ll never forget what I did to you, Ji. Whenever I close my eyes I can see you standing across from me; so much blood and- and you just looked so tiny.”

Jiyong looked up at his older brother to see him staring glassy eyed just over his shoulder. He could tell he was recalling the image that he was describing.

He didn’t say anything. He just watched as Seunghyun’s eyes became moister and a tear eventually fell down his cheek. This caused the older man to blink and focus on the smaller face below him.

“I never even thought about how it is for you. God, Ji, you must be exhausted. If I knew how bad it was I would have never agreed for us to do that damn interv-“

“Hyung.”

Jiyong interrupted.

“They’re only dreams. They can’t hurt me. Not anymore.”

He reached up and brushed a tear from his older brother’s cheek.

“You know, tonight is the first time in two weeks that I’ve slept for more than an hour.”

He smiled adorably up at the older rapper. Seunghyun automatically smiled in return.

“Thank you, hyung. Really.”

“You’re welcome, Ji. I’ll always be here.”

\--

Seunghyun made the other members and YG aware of Jiyong’s nightmares. From then on, each member would see a doctor to check for signs of post-traumatic stress, which they all had, Jiyong being the more severe case.

The best care was made available to all of them. And every night somebody would stay with Jiyong. Only one of his brothers. The only other people he would let would be his family, but they couldn't always travel. The members would alternate from night to night. None of them had any problem staying with him at all. And every night the nightmares came.

The first time it happened in Seungri’s presence he really didn’t know what to do so he grabbed his leader and just held him close until he calmed down. Daesung kept a distance, but kept reassuring him with a soothing tone and helped him calm down that way. Taeyang reacted similarly to Seunghyun had originally. He held Jiyong down so he didn’t shake around too much and kept telling him he was there in that familiar loving tone that they always shared with one another. It did rattle the singer the first time he saw his best friend wake up screaming, but his protective mode kicked in right away.

Seunghyun liked being close to his little brother, both emotionally and physically. He didn’t usually like physical contact with anyone except for his family and the members, but Jiyong was the exception. Especially now that he really needed that familiar touch.

It was the morning after a particularly bad night in which Taeyang had stayed with him. The rest of the members came to the studio with breakfast to share. Daesung came in through the door first and held it open for Seungri behind him. When he turned back around into the room he saw Taeyang sitting on the couch with his finger held over his mouth, silently telling them to be quiet. The singer had his other arm draped over Jiyong’s back who was sitting beside him with his head in his hands. He was visibly trembling, but he was silent.

Daesung looked on in confusion as he put the coffee tray on the table. Seungri caught sight of the figures on the couch and looked on quizzically. Seunghyun closed the door behind him and immediately sat next to his leader. The shift in weight on the seat caused the small, shaking man to jump slightly. The oldest member slowly and carefully placed his hand on Jiyong’s knee. He looked at Taeyang who looked pretty tired himself.

“It was a bad night.”

The singer explained.

“S-Sorry hyung. It was just- so real. I could almost feel everything-“

The leader spoke quietly from behind his hands.

“Shh, Ji. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Taeyang squeezed his arm gently, wanting nothing more than to hug his little brother as tight as he could, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be touched right now. 

“Did he sleep at all?”

Daesung asked as he knelt down in front of his leader.

“A couple of hours. Then he woke up screaming like the other nights. Only this time I couldn’t calm him down like usual.”

Seunghyun arched down to get a view of his leader’s face from underneath his hands. He saw his eyes shut tight and stream marks from dried tears. It was almost like he was half here and half somewhere else.

“Jiyong. Can you hear me?”

It took a moment before the trembling man nodded.

“What happened? What was so different this time?”

Seunghyun watched his little brother’s eyes open and focus on him.

“Before, it was always like I was watching what was happening. From the outside. B-But last night-“

The small rapper let out a sigh and blinked.

“It was like I was reliving everything all over again. It was-“

He removed his head from his hands and looked up at the ceiling.

“Horrible.”

The leader fell backwards into the chair and let his head fall back.

He took a moment before looking around the room at his brothers. Once he was able to make eye contact with all of them and confirm that they were real, he relaxed.

Taeyang breathed a sigh of relief.

“You scared me, Ji.”

Jiyong looked at his older brother and smiled sadly.

“I’m sorry. I’m okay.”

Seungri approached with the coffee for everybody.

“Here, hyung. This will help.”

Jiyong gratefully took the cup.

“Thank you, Seungri.”

Once the coffee was distributed and everybody became comfortable around the couch, Jiyong took a sip.

“Everybody doing okay? I’m sorry I can’t be there for you all in my current condition.”

Seungri smiled.

“That’s okay, hyung. Honestly, I don’t really feel like being away from any of you lately.”

“Yes.”

Daesung agreed.

“I feel like we’re closer than we’ve ever been. It feels wrong, at this time, to be apart. If that makes sense?”

The younger singer said sheepishly.

“I understand completely.”

Seunghyun replied.

“After everything- I don’t know. It’s like- I want to make sure you’re all okay.”

Taeyang nodded thoughtfully.

“The nights are the hardest.”

The singer stated, causing Jiyong to take his hand in his.

“That’s when you have the most time to think. And all you seem to think about is what happened. Then when you eventually do manage to sleep it’s…“

Nobody spoke for a moment.

“A nightmare.”

Jiyong eventually finished.

He sat forward and smiled.

“I love you all and I always will. You’re my brothers and I’d be lost without you.”

Each member immediately smiled in response.

“We love you too, hyung.”

Daesung instantly replied.

“Yeah! We couldn’t ask for a better leader.”

Seungri added.

“We couldn’t ask for a better brother.”

Taeyang added again warmly.

Seunghyun gently held his knee.

“We love you, Jiyong.”


	14. Blue

Physically, Jiyong was a mess. Every time he moved it hurt. He did his best to hide it from his brothers. Of course, they all knew full well exactly what injuries had been inflicted. They were the ones who inflicted them. Despite this, their leader wanted to spare them as much guilt as he could. They already felt responsible for his nightmares. They didn’t need a reminder of just how hurt he was.

Injuries, especially bruising, always hurt more after a week or so. That’s when they looked the worst also. They became dark and angry. Whenever somebody saw Jiyong’s injured face they visibly flinched as if their own face possessed his nerves. 

Thankfully, the other area on his body that had the most visible evidence of its’ assault was his abdomen. An area he didn’t allow anyone to see. Usually, he didn’t really mind exposing his chest or torso on stage. He wasn’t at the level of Seunghyun, but then again, he wasn’t at the level of Taeyang either. 

Now however, he wouldn’t remove his shirt in front of anyone. Even his members.

He was doing quite well playing down his pain. If he had pain in his head or arm his instinct to grab the area had stopped. Or more accurately, he was repressing his instinct. At least when he had company. Occasionally he would flinch when he was getting up from a seat and leaned too heavily on his healing leg or put too much pressure on his broken hand. And occasionally one of his members would catch this and give him a sympathetic look. 

It only happened once, but when Daesung was minding Jiyong one night, his leader turned a certain way in his sleep that caused his shirt to ride up and expose some of stomach. The younger singer bent down to get a closer look. He instinctively reached his fingertips out as if to touch the bruised skin. It fascinated him in that he didn’t realise how much skin the bruising covered. He looked up from the painful injury to his leader’s face and wondered how his expression could be so peaceful while he was in this condition. Once he let his mind wander sufficiently he returned to his seat, never mentioned it to his older brother.

Jiyong was still sleeping in the studio. It was the only place he truly felt safe being alone at the moment. He was able to sleep relatively peacefully by himself now. The nightmares were less frequent and he could deal with them himself a little better than before. He kind of just mimicked how his brothers acted when they looked after him. It would almost seem strange to somebody looking on. He would hug himself and audibly tell himself he was safe. Despite this new ability, somebody would still stay with him one or two nights a week.

\--

It had been a long day for the band. They had done a Japanese magazine interview and had to provide some final police statements about the men that had been arrested. They had dinner together in a place near the YG building before retiring for the night.

Jiyong liked to write at night. Like Seunghyun, he had a lot of experience to write from. He arrived at the studio and immediately let out a long sigh and stretched. He had spent the whole day supressing the pain in his abdomen. He was warm and in pain so he headed straight for the shower. He stood under the water, letting it caress his damaged skin. Absorbing the feeling of the soothing drops and picturing all of his pain washing away.

He stepped out and slowly dried his smooth skin, doing his best not to hurt himself. He managed to get his pants on with relative difficulty. He didn’t take any pain relief today as he was trying to wean himself off of them. Although now he was paying for it. The feeling in his abdomen was worse than it had been since he left the hospital. There went his plans to write tonight.

He grimaced as he bent over the sink and surveyed his upper body. He hadn’t taken the time to really look at his body until now. Partly because he didn’t want to be reminded of what happened and partly because he didn’t want to see how bad he imagined he looked. If how he felt was anything to go by, it was bad. He scanned down along his ribs which jutted out through his skin and saw that the area which was most painful was also the darkest bruising. He closed his eyes and gripped the sink tight, lowering his head in defeat. 

He stayed like this. In silence. Feeling the pain and nothing else. 

“Hyung?”

A voice came from the doorway. It startled him, but he didn’t move right away. He took his time to raise his head and look behind him through the mirror above the sink.

“Seungri?”

His youngest brother stepped through the door and into the bathroom.

“I just came to see if you needed anything before I headed back.”

Jiyong didn’t answer. Instead he dropped his head again and shut his eyes. This caused the maknae to approach closer.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

He spoke as he continued to close in on his leader.

“Not really.”

His older brother finally answered.

Seungri was right next to the smaller man now and saw how hard he was gripping the sink and the pained expression on his face. His eyes automatically scanned his leader’s body as this was the first time he had seen him shirtless since what happened. He remembered the list of injuries that the surgeon had named, but this was his also first time seeing the more prominent ones.

“Ji-“

He said more as a reaction than anything else. He instinctively placed his hand on his older brother’s bicep. When he didn’t react he leaned in closer.

“Are you hurting?”

Jiyong took a moment and nodded in response.

“Your stomach?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Seungri looked back at the bruising and suddenly had an idea.

“Hyung, just wait. I’ll be right back.”

He ran out of the bathroom and returned with a bottle.

“I need you to turn around, hyung.”

The younger said and waited for his leader to move. Jiyong did as he was told and slowly turned his body around to face Seungri.

“Okay just lean back against the sink there.”

As his injured brother did so, he poured some of the contents of the bottle onto his palm. He set the bottle down on the sink and rubbed his hands together. The rapper watched his actions carefully through heavy lids. His younger brother stepped forward and held up his hand.

“This is going to feel a little cold, okay?”

Jiyong blinked at him in response. 

Without another word, Seungri placed his hand over the bruised skin of Jiyong’s body. The sensation caused his leader to flinch and take a sharp inward breath.

“It’s to help soothe you, hyung. It should help with the bruising too.”

He glanced at his brother’s still tense expression.

“Did you take your medication?”

Jiyong hesitated.

“I-I don’t… need it.”

“Clearly.”

Seungri smartly replied.

His older brother felt the cool sensation of the gel being rubbed into his injury. He could feel the pain slowly being overtaken by the relief of the calming balm. It felt really nice.

He allowed his eyes to close as his body began to relax at his little brother’s touch. He let out a quiet sigh. 

The feeling of Seungri’s hand smooth over his ribs began to change slightly. His touch slowly began to shake. Jiyong wasn’t really sure if he was imagining things, but his thoughts were confirmed when he felt another hand on other side of his ribs. The movement stopped and a feeling of weight pressed against him. He opened his eyes to see Seungri’s palms on either side of his torso and the maknae’s head leaning just under his neck.

“S-Seungri?”

His younger brother’s body shook as he began to cry. Jiyong felt the trembling through his own rib cage.

“W-What’s wrong?”

The maknae sobbed.

“E-Everything.”

Jiyong felt tears fall down his bare chest.

“Hey, it’s okay-“

All of a sudden there was pressure against him and Seungri pushed himself back a few steps. In the right state of mind, he would be instantly back by his leader’s side to apologise, but he wasn’t in the right state of mind right now.

“No, it’s not okay, hyung!”

Jiyong was shocked at his maknae’s outburst. The younger man was full on crying with tears streaming down his face.

“How can you even say that? It’s not okay at all!”

His leader gulped and remained leaning back against the sink, letting his maknae vent.

“You’re barely sleeping! You’re not eating. I mean, you’re so skinny and- and… God hyung-“

Seungri surveyed Jiyong’s thin and battered frame and raised his hand towards him to accentuate his description.

“Look at yourself!”

Then there was silence. Only Seungri’s panting breaths. He instantly regretted what he said and watched on as his leader looked down at his own bruised body.

More silence.

“You don’t think I’m aware of everything you just said?”

He spoke quietly. 

“You don’t think I’m aware that I can’t sleep?”

Seungri remained silent. Jiyong looked up at him with a blank expression.

“You don’t think I’m aware that I’ve lost weight because eating physically hurts?”

He pushed back off of the sink and began to approach his youngest brother.

“Every day I look in that mirror and see… this.”

He emphasised the last sentence by placing his palm on his chest.

He eventually reached his trembling maknae and stopped in front of him, looking up at him through strong eyes.

“Seungri, I am so painfully aware of everything that I’ve been trying to hide it. From you. From everyone.”

He stopped talking. He only watched as Seungri looked away apologetically and blinked through some more tears. Jiyong was angry, but he didn’t say any of it to make his brother feel bad. He was just explaining what he was going through.

“I-I’m sorry, hyung. I didn’t- I didn’t mean-“

Seungri’s resolve was crumbling. 

“I-“

Suddenly his legs gave way and he dropped to his knees, his hands gripping his hair.

“Just seeing you react to the gel. Your face- it was just so sad! Something so simple- Hyung-“

He began to cry more than before.

Jiyong kicked into leader mode and joined his maknae on the floor. He immediately grabbed him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Seungri held onto his leader as tight as he could and sobbed into his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, hyung.”

“Shh. I know, Seungri. I know.”

The younger boy kept his hands wrapped around his big brother’s thin, bare body. When Jiyong comforted him, he always melted into his embrace and felt better. Every time.

“I know it’s not okay and I’m sorry for saying so. I just don’t like seeing you upset.”

He felt a light laugh against his neck. They stayed embraced in silence for a few moments longer before pulling apart. Jiyong kept his good hand on his maknae’s shoulder.

“Thank you for helping me.”

His leader smiled at him before wiping away the tears with his thumb.

Seungri sniffed and returned the smile. He stood up and helped his brother up with him. Jiyong turned back to the sink and grabbed the fresh shirt that he was originally going to put on before the pain set in.

“Ji-hyung?”

“Hm?”

His leader buttoned up only the bottom button of his light shirt.

“Can I stay here tonight?”

“Of course.”

The leader walked towards him and led him out into the studio with him.

“But remember, up early. Important meeting with YG-hyung tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure, hyung.”

Seungri nodded as he sat down on the couch.

“And Seungri.”

Jiyong lay down lengthways with his head resting in his younger brother’s lap.

“Thank you. I mean it.”

Seungri smiled genuinely down at his leader.

“Any time, hyung.”


	15. Fantastic Baby

YG gathered the members together at the studio for their meeting. It was just the six of them together. He had kept any personnel interaction with the members at a minimum as not to overwhelm them since they escaped. And if any of them went out anywhere they were accompanied by security. There were no exceptions to that rule. He vowed never to let them out of sight again, even during their holidays.

“So boys, how are we all feeling lately? The interview you did seems to have helped with the confusion and the initial media outcry.”

“Yeah, they’ve certainly backed off a bit, but it’s also created additional questions and stories.”

Seunghyun spoke from his position standing against the wall.

“I understand, but at least it’s not all mere speculation, right?”

“Hm.”

The older rapper replied with a quick nod and glanced over at Taeyang.

“I agree.”

The singer began.

“Definitely not as many crazy stories hyung, but you know the media. There will always be some in circulation. It can’t be helped. The best thing we can do is ignore them. We know what really happened.”

The singer added.

YG nodded in agreement.

“That’s it, Youngbae.”

“Although you think after having seen the footage that they would…”

Deasung offered to nobody in particular before trailing off.

This led to a short silence. YG cleared his throat.

“It’s been a month, boys. How are we all doing physically?”

Seungri glanced at his brothers before answering.

“Well, honestly hyung, the rest of us are fine. We’ve been alternating our time spent with Ji-hyung at night. He’s needing us less and less. Right, hyung?”

Everyone turned their sights over to the leader who was standing not far from Seunghyun. 

The smaller man nodded and smiled.

“I’m doing better. The nightmares are less frequent now.”

YG nodded.

“How’s your appetite?”

Jiyong hesitated.

“It will return.”

Taeyang looked his little brother up and down. He was very thin, but the singer was monitoring him.

YG thought for a moment and stood up straight.

“Okay, I have a proposal for you all.”

“A proposal?”

Daesung asked.

“How would you feel about performing next week?”

Taeyang instantly stood up. He wasn’t entirely sure why he did.

Nobody really said anything so the older man continued.

“M Countdown. Two songs. To show everybody that you’re doing okay and that BigBang hasn’t been knocked back by a random psychopath.”

Taeyang, still standing, looked over to Jiyong who returned his glance.

“Ji, it’s your call. I’ll only do it if you feel like you’re ready to go back out there.”

“Yeah, hyung. Don’t feel under any pressure.”

Daesung added.

“We’re with you all the way, hyung.”

Seungri reassured his leader.

Jiyong felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Seunghyun who was smiling down at him.

The small rapper looked down at the ground before looking back up at his boss.

“Let’s do it.”

“Are you absolutely sure, Jiyong?”

YG wanted to be certain that he didn’t put the boy under any pressure.

“I’m sure, hyung.”

YG smiled.

“Perfect. So, it will be next Thursday.”

He stood and grabbed a notepad.

“Song suggestions? I was think ‘Fantastic Baby’ as the closer anyway. You know it backwards. What would you like to do first?”

“Maybe a softer song to open?”

Seungri offered.

“How about ‘If You’?”

Daesung suggested.

Taeyang thought and nodded.

“That’s a good choice, Dae. At least we will be still.”

He turned to his leader.

“Ji, will you be okay with the choreo for ‘Fantastic Baby’?”

Jiyong nodded and smiled.

“I will be fine, Youngbae. At least I will have an excuse, unlike Seunghyun-hyung.”

He glanced up at his oldest brother again and smiled cheekily.

“Hey!”

Seunghyun feigned offense. Everybody in the room laughed. It felt nice to laugh genuinely as a group.

“Okay. So, we’re going for next Thursday. M Countdown. ‘If You’ followed by ‘Fantastic Baby’. I’ll let the guys know. Final confirmation from everybody?”

Everybody looked to the leader.

“You have it, hyung. Next Thursday.”

“Great. Thank you, boys. I’ll get back to you later on about rehearsals.”

The members bowed as their boss left.

Jiyong turned back to his brothers.

“Well, looks like we have some work to do.”

 

\--

 

The week passed by very quickly. The group spent most of their time rehearsing. They had performed these two songs dozens of times, but considering recent events they felt a rehearsal, especially with their leader’s current condition, was necessary.

Jiyong was performing the choreography in the rehearsals minimally. He knew he was still far from one hundred percent so he didn’t want to spend all of his energy practicing and have none left for the actual performance. His brothers were looking after him, making sure he was hydrated and not overexerting himself. 

By Thursday they were as prepared as they could possibly be. They were now in their dressing room getting ready. It was decided that they didn’t want to be too colourful or flashy with their clothes. They kept it all very natural. Nobody had their hair dyed an unnatural colour as of late so that certainly helped.

Jiyong was getting his make-up applied to his face. The artist was doing her best to cover the still dark bruising while keeping a natural look. The bruises were still faintly visibly under the skin tone, but that was okay to the small rapper. He didn’t want to hide anything. He stood in front of a mirror. His black hair had been cut since they had returned. It was still long enough to hang down just above his eyebrows. He was wearing black jeans, shoes and an oversized grey sweater. The sleeves came down over his hands, even partially over the cast. He wore a brace on his knee over the jeans. There was no avoiding it.

Taeyang appeared beside him, similarly dressed. He looked at him through the mirror.

“Are you okay?”

The singer asked him.

“I’m good, thank you. How do you feel?”

“Honestly, I am a little nervous.”

Jiyong turned to look at him in his eyes.

“Why?”

Taeyang shook his head.

“I don’t really know, Ji.”

He replied before smiling.

“Feels like our debut again almost.”

Jiyong chuckled.

“A little. Come on. Let’s go before you chicken out.”

Taeyang chuckled also and followed his leader.

 

\--

 

“Geunyeoga tteonagayo. Naneun amugeosdo hal su eopseoyo.”

Seunghyun’s soulful voice enveloped the studio as the lights shone upon him only. The crowd present cheered at the sight of the oldest member as he continued his verse.

“Meoreojineun geu dwismoseupmaneul baraboda.”

Seungri now appeared in the light. His light and airy voice floated up and over the audience. Another cheer for the youngest member as he finished out his verse.

“If you. If you.”

Suddenly the centre of the stage lit up and Jiyong slowly appeared. The audience cheered and clapped their hands as they listened to the leader’s soft, sweet voice dancing around the studio. The members could feel the respect in the room emitting from everybody, even the crew.

“Geudaeneun eotteongayo. Jeongmal amureohji anheun geongayo.”

Deasung’s booming, powerful voice erupted into the studio. The crowd cheered him through his verse with delight.

“Meoreojineun geu dwismoseupmaneul baraboda.”

Taeyang took over with his equally powerful and technically skilled singing. The crowd again applauded him, helping him through to the next chorus.

Jiyong’s unique voice was full of emotion and the people in that room could feel it. 

As soon as the song ended the crowd stood up and cheered with so much respect and admiration that the members would never forget the feeling.

Taeyang glanced over at his leader. A few beads of sweat dripped down his bruised temple, but he looked to be doing okay.

The lights faded so that they could take position for the next song.

“Yeogi buteora modu moyeora we gon’ party like lilililalala”

The lights immediately came up as the beat kicked in. The five members powered through the energetic dance song. This time Jiyong was putting in a lot more effort into the dancing. He still favoured his good knee  
and couldn’t really put all of his weight on the brace, but he was doing brilliantly. 

Every now and then, the members would glance over and see if he was okay, but for such a physical song that was difficult as they had to concentrate on what they were doing themselves. 

YG himself was there also. He was watching on from the side. His heart was filling up with pride.

The choreography went down perfectly. The crowd were singing and clapping along, all still standing. 

“Wow, Fantastic Baby!”

The song ended and the place went insane. It was a standing ovation like no other. The five members stood panting and watching the crowd pour their love over them.

Seughyun threw his arm over Jiyong’s shoulder lovingly. He instantly felt the smaller man’s body lean into his and felt how hot he was. He looked down at him and saw the sweat shine on his darkened face. His black hair was stuck to his face and he was breathing fast. Taeyang glanced over and saw the worried look on his oldest brother’s face. 

Seunghyun looked down at YG who nodded and gave a signal over to the presenter. He took the signal and came up onto the stage to end the show. Once the cameras were off the members immediately bowed, Jiyong included, and thanked the audience for the amount of love they received. 

The oldest member let Jiyong keep his weight on him and led him backstage. As soon as they got back into the dressing room Jiyong collapsed. If it wasn’t for Seunghyun and Taeyang who reacted in an instant, he would have ended up on the floor.

“Easy. Easy.”

Taeyang said as they led him over to the couch and sat him down.

Suddenly, a cold towel was placed on the leader’s forehead and fans were being waved at him.

“Give him some space, please.”

Daesung told all of the additional people.

Seungri sat next to his older brother and gently began to pat his cheek.

“Hyung. Ji-hyung.”

It seemed to work as his leader slowly came around. 

“Adda boy, Ji.”

Seunghyun smiled and sat on the opposite side.

“Rise and shine, Ji.”

Taeyang said.

Their leader’s eyes opened slowly as he instinctively reached up and took the cloth from his forehead.

“How did it go?”

“Amazing!”

YG spoke as he entered the dressing room.

“Boys, you were amazing. I’ve never seen a crowd reaction like that! And the ratings are coming in. The highest the show has ever seen.”

The group all exchanged a look and smiled at each other.

“We’re back baby.”


	16. Haru Haru

Indeed, BigBang were back. People had been reading about what happened. They had watched their interview. They had watched their comeback performance. They had been with them through this whole rollercoaster. Even people who weren’t fans of theirs could see how much of a bond the members had with one another. They were respected before everything that happened purely from their talent and musical ability. Now, on top of that, they were respected because of their strength of character, their resilience, their influence and their connection with one another.

People who questioned G-Dragon as a leader and who saw him as just some kid were now able to see him in a different light. In a strange way, by keeping his guard up and allowing himself to be protected by his brothers during the televised interview, he also broke down a wall around him which shone a light for some on Kwon Jiyong the person and not G-Dragon the idol. He was vulnerable and honest and, albeit because of a horrible situation, he let people in.

Enough time had passed that Jiyong could stay in his home. The members were each taking a week to relax and recharge before they began to work on some new music. At this stage, they all had a lot of built up energy and so much they wanted to get out. It would be a truly collaborative record.

It was midnight. Jiyong sat on the floor cross legged and folded a piece of paper neatly. He stuck out his tongue as he concentrated. He then placed the soft paper in an envelope and licked it closed. He leaned down and wrote on the white.

‘Seojun & Ji’

He smiled at his writing, remembering the time he spent with those two wonderful people being taken care of. He had written a letter to thank them and invited them to have dinner with him. He stood up and placed the letter on his coffee table for the morning.

He made his way over to his bed and let himself fall backwards onto the soft sheets. He lied there with his arms spread above him and legs dangling over the edge. He all of a sudden imagined the dark, damp ceiling of the room. He imagined the smell of blood and the feeling of pain. He instinctively felt as if his hands were restricted and slid his arms back and forth to prove that he was free. He blinked slowly and let out a long sigh. 

He was home. He was doing okay. 

His phone lit up and vibrated on his bedside table. He sat up and checked the screen.

‘Youngbae: Hey Ji. Just heading to bed. Talk to you tomorrow. Sleep well. Bae.’

The leader smiled and replied, wishing his brother a good night before he threw his phone on the far side of the bed and sat up. 

He didn’t move for a moment. Instead, he sat in the dim light with his hands clasped and resting on his lap. He found images of people coming into his mind. People that he loved and who he found himself surrounded by. His members, his seniors, his labelmates, his fans, his family and friends. He felt his heart fill with love in that very moment. 

With that, he stood and walked over to his desk. He opened the drawer and took something out of it. He then walked over to his fireplace. The only light in his whole living area was coming from these flames. He stood in front of the fire and just watched the dancing of the embers.

He opened his hand and looked down at the disc in his palm. He was using his weakened hand to hold the footage. He thought it was poignant. The cast had been removed a few days previous. The bones hadn’t healed one hundred percent perfect due to the delay in getting treatment so his fingers weren’t able to close fully. 

He was able to lean on his injured knee now. Again, the healing process wasn’t ideal for his bones so he had a slight limp now, but it wasn’t impacting his dancing to a noticeable extent.

All of this went through his mind as he stared through the disc at the flames still. Every broken bone. Every bruise on his skin. Every tear that belonged to his brothers and every drop of blood that he was made spill. The disc had been given to him after it was released from evidence. Out of respect, he was let decide what he wanted to do with it.

He didn’t watch it. He didn’t want to relive a moment of any of it. He had hoped that the further time had passed, the more blurred his memory of those few days would become.

So he opened his palm flat and let the disc fall into the fire. The flames engulfed the footage and he watched on as he could almost feel his body become lighter.

More than any other time before, in this moment, he had never been more sure of who he was as a person.

“G-Dragon.”

He said to himself.

“Kwon Ji Yong.”

\--

The End


End file.
